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The Indian Journal of Political Science
VoL LXVIil No. 2, April - June, 2007
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Editorial Note :
1 . Biju. B.L
IVIarket Preserving Federalism : A Theoretical Hybrid of
Libera! Democracy and Global Capitalism 217-238
K.K. Puri
State Administration in India : Declining Trends 239-246
3. Gopinath Reddy
Panchayati Raj Institutions and Parallel Bodies in Andhra Pradesh :
A Model for Synergy 247-25B
4. Smita Srivastava
India's Response to Globalisation :
A Perceptible Shift in Economic, Political & Administrative Policies 259-274
5. SanJeevKr. H.M.
Foreign Policy Posotion of Bharatiya Janta Party Towards
Issues of India Pakistan Relations 275-291
6. Vidhan Pathak
India’s Francophone Africa Policy : Leniency to Partnership 293-310
7. Vin nay Jain
Authenticity and Derivativeness : Debating Nehruvian Secularism 311-323
8. Arun Kr. Agrawal
Corruption inTiistoricai Perspective : A Case of India 325-336
9. ^ Anurag Ratna
Impact of Coalition Politics Constitutional Development of India 337-364
10. JyotirmayaTripathi
Postmodern India ? The Nation in spite of fragments 355-371
11. ArjunSharma
Rising Roles of ‘Nirdalyas’
A Case Study of the 14th Lok Sabha General Election, 2004 373-389
12.
Sarbeswar Sahoo
The Politics of Tribal Resistance In Orissa
391402
13.
R. RajaraJan
Secularism in Indian Politics : Theory and Practice
403412
14.
Sivananda Patnaik
William Nunes
Contending Frameworks For Foreign Policy Analysis :
An Appraisal
413420
Book-Reviews
15. Sushma Yadav
Government and Opposition : Parliamentary Democracy in India,
Shibani Kinkar Chaube, K.P. Bagachi & Company,
Kolkata, 2006, pp. 216, Rs. 350/- 421-423
16. AditiTyagi
Control Over Public Finance in India,
S.P. Ganguly, Concept Publishing Company,
New Delhi, 2006, pp. 158, Rs.300/- 423-424
17. Ram Singh Arha
Regionalism and Ethnicity in Indian politics -
Dr. Vishwanath Mishra, Vishwa Vidhyalaya Prakshan, Sagar,
Madhya Pradesh, (2006) Price 300/- Rs. pp 260 42S426
18. BeenaRani
Violence and Religion Cross Cultural Opinions and Consequences-
R.E.S. Tanner, Concept Publishing Company,
New Delhi, 2007, pp.370, Price Rs. 750/- 426427
19. TriranjanRaj
Ethnic issues. Secularism and Conflict Resolution
in North-East India by Bimal J.Deb(Ed.),
Concept Publishing Company, New Delhi, 2006, pp. 247.Price Rs.600/- 427429
20. Naresh Kumar
NUCLEAR WEAPON FREE ZONE, P. Moorthy,
Concept Pubishing Company,
New Delhi 2006, PP 260 Price Rs. 500/-
430431
CONTRIBUTORS
1 . Ms. A^ti Tyagi is research scholar, Department of Political Science, CCS University.
Meerut. (Uttar Pradesh)
2. Dr. Anurag Ratna is Reader and Head, Department of Political Science, GSPG, College,
Sultanpur (Uttar Pradesh)
3. Dr. Arjun Sharma is Lecturer, Department of Political Science, SMD College, Punpun,
Patna (Bihar)
4. Mr. Arun Kumar Agarwal is research scholar, Department of Political Science, C.C.S.
University, Meerut (Uttar Pradesh) 4
5. Dr. Beena Rai is Lecturer, Department of Political Science, R.G. College, Meerut (Uttar
Pradesh)
6. Dr. B.L. Biju is Head. Departnhent of Politics, Govt. College, Calicut (Kerala)
7. Dr. Jyotirmay Tripathi is Assistant Professor, Department of Humanities & Social
Sciences, I.I.T., Madras (Tamil Nadu)-jyOtlrmaya@iitm.ac.in
8. Prof. K.K. Puri is former Professor and Head, Department of Public Administrtaion,
Punjabi University, Patiala (Panjab)
9. Dr. M. Gopinath Reddy is Associate Professor. Centre for Economic ancj Social Studies,
Nizamiah Observatory Campus, Begumpeth, Hyderabad (Andhra Pradesh)
mgopinathreddy@cess.ac.in
1 0. Dr. Naresh Kumar has done Ph.D. in Political Science, CCS University. Meerut. (Uttar
Pradesh)
11. Dr. Ram Singh Arab is Lecturer, Department of Political Science, Dayanand College,
Ajmer (Rajasthan)
12. Mr. R. Rajrajan is research scholar. Department of Political Science, Annamalai
University, Annamalainagar (Tamil Nadu)
13. Dr. Sanjeev Kumar H.M. is Lecturer, Department of Political Science, University of
Allahabad, Allahabad (Uttar Pradesh)
1 4. Mr. Sarbeshwar Sahu is research scholar, Department of Sociology, National University
of Singapore, Singapore- sarbeswar@nus.edu. sg
15. Dr. Sivananda Patnaik is faculty member, Department of Political Science, M.S.
University, Baroda (Gujarat)
16. Dr. Smita Srivastava is Reader, Department of Political Science, St John's College,
Agra(Uttar Pradesh) - ssrivast@yahoo.com
1 7. Prof. Sushma Yadav is Professor, Ambedkar Chair for Social Justice, Indian Institute of
Public Administration, New Delhi
18. Mr. Triranjan Raj is Lecturer, Department of Political Science, R.L.A. College, New
Delhi.
19. Mr, Vidhan Pathak is research scholar, Jawahar Lai Nehru University, New Delhi
20. Dr. Vinny Jain is Reader, Department of Political Science, St. John's College, Agra
(Uttar Pradesh) vinnyagra@yahoo.com
21 Dr. William Nunes is with the Gujarat National Law University, Gandhi Nagar (Gujarat)
Editorial Note
Dear Friends,
The community of teachers and scholars of Political Science and Public Administration in
India has generally been working and striving hard to attain international standards and repute
through their well-conceived academic pursuits manifested through seminars, symposia,
researchers, publications and journals. Fortunately enough, we have a very good number of scholars
throughout the country who have earned international recognition and wide-spread reputation by
means of their meticulously prepared and excellently documented writings. Although there appears
no updated record of the number of teachers of our discipline in the universities and colleges of our
country yet we know for sure that there is a considerably great number of the fraternity spread over
all parts of the nation. The contribution of this community with regard to creating an attraction for the
subject amongst the students is without any shadow of doubt tremendous. The number of students
studying in our discipline in various colleges and different universities, as evident from our personal
observation: is also significantly high. The amount of knowledge production in terms of text books,
research thesis publications, project workds, independent researches, etc is also quite impressive.
Of late, some of our senior colleagues have had the opportunity of stepping into top positions of
educational administration and thereby being in the capacity of influencing the decision making of
the system at large. In this context, the syllabi, the teaching methods, the promotion schemes, the
academic environment, the recruitment process, the capacity building programmes and the overall
output have witnessed remarkable transformation on all accounts.
The knowledge production sector of our discipline has also witnessed substantia}
transformation due to their intense interaction with the international community of the discipline
through seminars, symposia, workshops, conferences and joint works. This interaction has not
only been paving the way towards greater exposure and academic orientations' of the researchers
world wide but also providing platform to the Indian scholars with their international counterparts. It
has facilitated the expansion of the indigenous ideas and concepts through academic pursuits.
The results of this interaction ought to have been beneficial for both the sides. But, unfortunately,
this did not happen. It is really a matter of great concern for all of us. In this backdrop, great amount
of introspection is required. It is now high time that we should start thinking how to reap the benefits
of this interaction in real terms, if it is not fructifying, then there is something seriously ana
fundamentally wrong with the ongoing interaction. The gains and losses must be mutually rewarding.
So we must review the gains and losses of international interaction in the domain of Political
Science. We must acknowledge the fact that our academic pursuit is devoid of ‘Indian’ face at
international level. Most of our academic efforts and exercises are mere copies or imitation of
researches and models enunciated in European and American universities. We are adept in adopting
the international (western) concepts, constructs, ideas and models. Whatever they suggest at any
moment of time we join their intellectual chorus so vigorously and sincerely to propagate their
intellectual formulatins as may be astonishing for the original propounders also. When we are told
about human rights, we start exploring the possibilities of ensuring the human rights even in those
areas where ‘angles fear to tread;’ when they tell us about ‘environment protection' we launch
environment movement: when there is sustainable development, when there is eco-justice, when
there is deconstruction, when there is feminism, when there is post-modernism, when there is
ethnicity, when there is sub-altern studies, when there is multi-culturalism, and when there is any
new nomenclature constructed by them, we put in all our mental faculties in that direction without
testing their viability, feasibility, and their relevance in Indian setting. We must ponder over them
dispassionately and ask ourselves what is the need of these intellectual ‘mantras,’? We must also
explore the scope for the enforcement of ideas, principles and theories enunciated by the Indian
thinkers of ancient period. Western concets may be traced from the Indian stream of thought as
well. So dependence on imported ideas will not do much good for Indian political science. Their
utility and relevance must be examined in the right Indian perspective and evaluate their relevance
in contemporary world order.
So, I have been regularly urging that we as students of Political Science and Public
Administration in India must put in some effort in the direction of proper understanding of our own
intellectual past. And we may find it very interesting to learn that our so called orthodox and
conventional mythological works contain very sound and profusely analytical perspective of
theoretical and practical aspects of socio-political life, institutions, and functional dimensions. Only
after a close and intense study of those seminal works, we may be in a position to draw dividing fine
between the relevant and obsolete portions in preset day contexts. That’s why Indian texts declare
{Sanjeev K. Sharma)
1®* July 2007
Meerut
The Indian Journal of Political Science
Vol. LXVIll, No. 2, Apr.-Jun., 2007
MARKET PRESERVING FEDERALISM :
A THEORETICAL HYBRID OF LIBERAL DEMOCRACY
AND GLOBAL CAPITALISM
Biju. B. L
Though federalism as a liberal idea theoretically adheres to pluralism, in actual practice
it always denies, political plurality through imposing liberal democracy, economic plurality
through mustering capitalism and cultural pluralism through unifying political and
economic ways of life across autonomous units. According to the liberal perspective,
federalism ensures co-existence of different geographical units (artificially created for
the purpose of governance or created by natural boundaries or based upon ethnic
similarities like common language and culture) within a single broad unit of the Nation
State. It also bestows the units with autonomy to function differently and separately in
quite a number of matters.
There is a surge in literature on federalism simultaneous to globalization capturing the
academic debates on decentralization of political power. Most often, such academic debates
are publicized by the liberal intelligentsia as value-free and benevolent. Federalism, a unique
form of decentralization of political power assumes.great significance in this respect. In fact, the
liberals design federalism in such away that it purports both the penetration of free market
regime into the interior parts of the Nation States and the integration of the national/regional /
local economies into a single unit viz. , the capitalist global economy. This process of federalization
contemporaneous to globalization is popularly known as ‘Market Preserving Federalism’.''
Theoretical analysis of the Market Preserving Federalism in relation to the basic tenets of liberal
democracy and the dynamics of global capitalism exposes its contradictions and crisis from a
critical political economy perspective.
Political Decentralization: The Llberalist Dilemma
The idea and practice of decentralization of power as construed by the liberal intelligentsia
are vulnerable to many a critical question. Most important is the inability/aloofness of liberalism
to grapple with the political economy of decentralization process. By decentralization majority of
the liberals imply the dislocation of the political structure (the State) only, which further shows
that they conceive decentralization only in part. Deliberately or accidentally, they hardly advocate
decentralization for the deconcentration of economic wealth. This is more so in the contemporary
discourses of liberalism in which the State action for economic distribution, which is imperative
to accomplish decentralization, is ignored/resisted by and large. It is true that the liberals are
•wary of the concentration of political power regarding the economic, fiscal and developmental
authority at the central government and the current programme of decentralization also visualizes
fiscal devolution to the sub-national and local governments. But it constitutes only a part of their
key concern - curbing the power of the central political authority. And also it has no genuine
concern with the distributive economic policies which is conspicuous by its absence in their
The Indian Journal of Political Science
218
project. Quite often they overlook the disastrous consequences of the pro-capitalist economic
and fiscal policies on development. The inadequate understanding of the liberal school about
decentralization in fact challenges the theoretical substance of liberalism and exposes the
limitation of this philosophy to describe the concept of political power comprehensively. Ironically,
the conviction on the market mechanism and its invisible hands to ensure development becomes
instrumental for the liberal democratic states to follow the dictates of the market while formulating
the economic and fiscal policies at the political level.
It is to our commonsense that left to itself the market economy exacerbates regional and
class disparities by discriminating both the regions and the people on the basis of their
competence and merit. Since the market fails to ensure a judicious distribution in the economic
sphere and the political decentralization deprives the State any effective power to initiate egalitarian
policies, the free market regime becomes counter productive to development. Any programme
of decentralization could not resolve this embarrassment without addressing the need for a
systematic restructuring of the base. The absence of such an effort in the liberal approach to
decentralization compels one to doubt the project as a capitalist connivance to encourage the
free market at the cost of social justice and equity.
Liberals fait to discern this contradiction mainly because of four reasons. Firstly, in liberalism
politics is more associated with the institutionalized power structure (state and government) and
is considered as a formal/legal activity. Since politics is simplified as ‘the exercise of coercive
power by certain institutions or individual rulers’, its wider dimensions - the struggle for hegemony
between social groups/classes or as an activity par excellence - are totally overlooked. A critical
political economy perspective would have been a remedy to this handicap. But the liberal school
seldom recognizes the class aspect of politics. It is reflected in their theories of decentralisation
as well. Secondly, liberalism is not self critical even though the philosophy may advocate plurality
of perspectives. The lack of self criticism is mainly due to certain epistemological weakness of
this philosophy. It further prevents the liberals from designing theoretical devices to understand
social problems in general, and the issues of decentralisation in particular. Thirdly, the irrational
and conceptually inconvincible assumptions of liberalism about power, politics, individual-society
relationship, individual self, freedom, equality etc., become another hindrance to undertake a
scientific study. Finally, the philosophy is biased towards the dominant class of the world
economy viz., the bourgeoisie.^ Hence, on the contrary to our general belief, the libera! approacli
to decentralisation is ideological"* rather than scientific. Academically speaking, since liberalism
has no (self critical) theoretical design to study these contradictions, serious researchers have
to approach the issue of decentralization from a critical platform. Needless to say, such an
approach would dismantle liberalism substantially.
Market Preserving Federalism
Liberal Ethos of Federalism
219
Theoretical understanding of federalism as a model of liberal democratic governance -
democracy in the substantive sense of ensuring both qualitative and quantitative improvement in
the life of citizens and balanced development of regions - has to begin by focusing on its
ideological foundations and practical forms. It may be recalled that federalism, right from its
origin in an institutional form in USA, has been a liberal connivance to limit the scope of State
activity. Consequently, the federal structure evolved in a manner that it always remained reconciled
to the needs of a laissez faire State and a free market economy.
Federal ideas and institutions have strengthened since the emergence of liberalism as
the guiding spirit of democracy in the West.^ As such federalism has much to share in common
with both economic and political principles of that philosophy. It may be recalled that liberalism
conceptualizes State as the facilitator of civil and political freedoms than the dispenser of economic
justice to the masses (Vincent; 1992: 32) and a federal State functionally suits this political
vision. Since, in federalism, the State power is dispersed among the federating units (a case of
divided sovereignty), it is easy to check the power of the State and also to manage conflicts that
may arise while arranging territorially distributed power. Besides, the liberal ideology - classical,
modern and contemporary - that weighs diversity, plurality and freedom against every kind of
political monism, realizes federal government as an ‘effective’ mechanism of libera! governance.®
The earlier constitutional experiments in western countries like USA, Switzerland and Canada^
based on federal principles rightly matched their political and economic life in which the liberal
ethics of ‘Lockean tradition’ reflected the most. Hence, Douglas Verney argues that federations
in the West have always been associated with liberalism (Verney: 2003: 27).
This correctly corroborates that federalism is not only a liberal ideology in origin, but also
a practical connivance for the exertion of State power with respect to providing maximum
individual/entrepreneurial freedom as envisaged in liberal democracies (Ibid). Hence, individual
freedom vis- a -vis State has been ensured basically in two different forms: Firstly by dividing
citizenship - the political meaning of an individual in a democratic State - theoretically into two
loyalties, one to the Nation State and the other to the federating unit in which he/she lives. This
separation of loyalties substantially makes the individual free from the control of any single
collective entity arbitrarily demanding his freedom. Hence, Ronald Watts contends that federalism
is a healthy, ‘liberating’ and positive form of political organization (Watts; 2002:3).® Secondly, by
dividing sovereignty between federating units and the centre, the freedom of the former is assured
in accordance with the liberal principles (Diamond; 1981:49).® This has again considerably
reduced the scope of the State to intervene collectively and directly in the life of the individual.
In most cases the federal arrangement reduces the scope of the national government to
220
The Indian Journal of Political Science
abuse individual freedom and provides it only the option of non-inteivention or indirect intervention
through the federating governments. And also, the division of powers provides autonomy to the
federating units in a wide array of political authority. They theoretically preserve individual freedom
because compared to the distant but collectivist and stronger national government, the federating
units are closer to the individual and less powerful (Ibid; 50). Hence, they can be easily influenced
by the individual citizens. Finally, the conflicting scenario of inter-governmental power relationship
between the centre and federating units avoids a large number of incidents of potential right
violations due to arbitrary actions by either govSrnment. Federalism thus theoretically reduces
the scope of arbitrariness and provides adequate breathing space for consensus and compromises
whenever these two governments jointly exercise political power. In these and multifarious other
ways federalism does justify liberal individualism. This is best illustrated by James Madison,
one of the authors of classical federalism thus:
The power surrendered by the people is first divided between two distinct governments
and then the portion allotted to each is subdivided among distinct and separate departments.
Hence a double security arises to the rights of the people. The different governments will control
each other and at the same time, each will be controlled by itself (Hamilton, et. al; 1 957: 323).
Not only was the power of the State divided in classical federations, but also effective
checks were ensured for sustaining this practice. This is accomplished through a liberal
individualistic interpretation of the rights of the people wherein it acts as a check upon the
central legislature, where the collective will and popular aspiration seem to reflect. As the state
governments also cannot violate individual rights, particularly the right to property, liberal
constitutionalism perfectly ensures liberal governance in the federal system. This precaution
was taken to avoid all potential dangers of simple majoritarian democracy to elite interests
I (Lijphart; 1985: 3-4).
i And this fear of democracy continued till the publication of Alexis de Tocqueville’s
masterpiece, Democracy in America. But even Toqueville was wary of popular rule because it
i (jib not necessarily imply protection of persona! freedom.^ ^ This shows that, like in any other
liberal democratic device, in federalism also democracy is construed too narrowly so that it
i perfectly serves the interest of the dominant classes at both national and regional levels.
I Though federalism as a libera! idea theoretically adheres to pluralism, in actual practice it
always denies, political plurality through imposing liberal democracy, economic plurality through
mustering capitalism and cultural pluralism through unifying political and economic ways of life
across autonomous units. According to the liberal perspective, federalism ensures co-existence
of different geographical units (artificially created for the purpose of governance or created by
natural boundaries or based upon ethnic similarities like common language and culture) within a
Market Preserving Federalism 221
single broad unit of the Nation State. It also bestows the units with autonomy to function
differently and separately in quite a number of matters. As pluralism saves the Nation State
from disintegration, indeed, it became the natural choice of many multicultural developing countries.
The political connotation of pluralism, assuming State as an association of associations, correctly
matches its federal organization, wherein autonomy and legal equality of federating units have
been recognized. In other words, as liberalism conceives pluralism as the best tool for system
maintenance, federalism follows suit. As Allan Ball says, the 'belief that power is more widely
distributed may be very important, of course, for the legitimacy of the government and the
stability of the system (Ball; 1981: 34). Federalism thus acts as a check against both
centripetalism and centrifugalism by providing unity in diversity, thereby ensuring stability to the
liberal order - both economic and political.
Another finer point that needs narration is the similarity between liberalism and federalism,
in what J. S, Mill calls as majority’s rule with the concurrence of the minority.'*^ The liberals
deriving their inspiration from him, who set out the need for a minority veto to arrest the majority’s
assertion through the democratic will of the legislature, call for consociationalism^^ in federalism
too. They take precautions against majoritarian democracy which upsets liberal individual rights
by virtue of the collectivist take over. In their opinion, individualism in federalism is a safety valve
against the practice of majoritarian democracy. Arend Lijphart contends that minority veto is an
essential link that connects non-majoritarian and consociational theories of democracy and the
liberal version of federalism. According to him, though conceptually and empirically, federalism
and consociationalism do not coincide, they do overlap to an important extent in rejecting
majoritarian democracy (Lijphart; 1 985:32) Alexander Hamilton also testifies to this:
All communities divide themselves into the few and the many. The first are the rich and
well born, the other, the mass of people. Give all power to the many they will oppress the few.
Give all power to the few they will oppress the many. Hence there was a need to give the rich
and the well born a distinct, permanent share in the government through which they could check
the imprudence of democracy [Morris (ed.); 1 969: 1 52].'"^
Parallel to the above, federalism also provides ideological justification to status quo. As a
federation typically comprises of two sets of government, it requires fixed constitutional definition
of the relations of power between the State and individual and also between centre and the
federating units. It enhances procedural jurisdiction. And a strict adherence to the Constitution,
which expounds mainly procedural democracy and formal justice, legitimizes the existing values
and political order as unquestionable.
It is also Important to note that many of the institutional arrangements of a federal polity
- for instance, the powerful second chamber of the federal legislature and equal rights of the
The Indian Journal of Political Science
222
states in representation in it - better preserved the conservative ethos than comparatively
progressive liberal ones in classical federations like USA, However, in later period these contending
ideologies - consen/atism and liberalism - developed a consensus after capitalism gained
currency and this is more so in times of g.lobalization.''^ For instance, the neoconservatives and
neoliberals, more or less, advocate the same principle of Social Darwinism (Dickens; 2002:23-
25). It may also be noted that the progressive content of liberalism tapers off and the philosophy
is totally overshadowed by the urge for the maintenance of status quo in the bourgeois democracy
and capitalist order. All these are rightly reflected in federal theories also.''®
Naturally, therefore, federalism came to be hijacked today by neoliberal/neo-conservative
economists and Political Scientists, market strategists and their institutions, pioneering capitalist
States and their ideological agencies to materialize and purport free market economic philosophy.
By implication this means that, in contemporary times attempt is to reconstitute the welfare
State into a minimal Nation State with a weak centre at the apex and disempowered regional
units below i.e., a market friendly political entity.
Even though the aforesaid analyzes expose the connection between liberalism and
federalism in the domain of political ideas, the picture still remains hazy. Therefore, a critical
political economy theory is necessary for an understanding of the liberalist connection of federal
democratic philosophy, its capitalist economic practices and for explaining the recent efforts at
restructuring federalism to suit the exigencies c' a free market regime. It in turn points towards
the need for analyzing the economic underpinnings underlying them and establishing the linkage
between the two. A discussion on the State vs. Market Debate that went on and still continues
in the liberal idea of federal democracies becomes imperative here.
State vs. Market Debate in Federalism
Historically speaking, the ideological conjuncture between federalism, capitalism and
liberal democracy is self evident.'' ’’ The best examples are the first generation federal countries
~ USA, Switzerland and Canada - which were and are essentially capitalist societies with
liberal democracy. Therefore, federalism as a historical conjuncture, at least in the West, advanced
with the evolution of capitalism. Currently, the leading models of capitalist system flourish as
liberal democracies worldwide. This is not to say that all capitalist countries were/are federal or
even that all federal nations were/are capitalist. While in the former category countries with
unitary forms of governance are found, in the latter group countries like erstwhile U.S.S.R and
the newly emergent nations in the third world remained/remain as examples. However, what is
of significance in the case of the latter was the ephemeral nature of their tryst with socialism/
welfarism and their eventual acceptance - fully or substantially - of the logic of the free market
economy. Thus the State vs. Market Debate which was settled, at least partially, in these
Market Preserving Federalism 223
countries in favour of the former is reversed toaay m favour of the latter during the late 1 990s.
With these States also falling in line, the debate attained prominence once again. In a sense
there is nothing surprising in this as federalism is related to liberalism and liberalism in its turn
to market friendliness. This means that the centrality of market is the basic premise of liberalism
which has its repercussions for federalism as well, both in theory and practice.
It may be recalled that market economy is synonymous with the capitalist system in
which economic activities are carried out by entrepreneurs, financiers, manufacturers and traders
in an atmosphere of 'free and fair' competition under market conditions of demand and supply
(Sargent: 1 969: 36-39 & Saunders: 1 998: 9).’’® And it is this entrepreneurial freedom and autonomy
of capitalism which is reflected as individual freedom in a liberal democracy. Also the liberal
State takes too much vigilance in its institutional, legal and constitutional forms to protect this
freedom of entrepreneurship and profit making, either directly or indirectly. Liberal ideology thus
shapes its institutional framework (super structures) motivated by the needs of the economic
base (structure) i.e., capitalism in liberal democratic States.^® The free market can effectively
exercise its rules only when the majoritarian democratic State do not intervene with anti-rich
(minority) policies.
In liberal democracies, therefore, the State provides every help to facilitate capitalism
through its meaningful non-interference in market. Here the absence of State’s command and
control seems to strengthen the market. Mac Pherson rightly remarks:
The job of liberal State was and was seemed to be to provide the conditions for a capitalist
society. The essence of both the liberal State and capitalist society is competition between
individuals who are free to choose what they would do with their energies and skills (Arbiaster:
1998:37-39).
Contemporary liberalism regards everything including political democracy as irrational, If
it stands against the free market.^® And it is only natural that this market friendliness of liberalism
has contaminated federalism as well. However, since liberalism promotes a market friendly
State, such a process Is very problematic vis-a-vis a federation. Therefore, federation is designed
by fixing the authority of the centre and autonomy of the units to suit the market economy.
Doing so, the liberals have to portray it as preserving democracy. In the formative stages of
American federalism, Madison and Hamilton urged for centralized powers of defence and inter-
state commerce and also were wary of granting sub-units veto power as they thought that it
would render the centre weak and cause tedious delays, continual negotiations and intrigues,
and contemptible compromises of ‘public good’(Arblaster, op. cit, 37-39).
Since liberals need a State, which oughtto be market facilitating and (individual) freedom
maximizing, their federal arrangement has also to be set on the principles of securing only the
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224
Lockean rights (life, liberty and property) in the state of nature. This naturally establishes a
‘strong’ centre, which is bound to function in accordance with capitalism.
It has already been stated that federalism curbs considerably the authority of the Nation
State by dividing its sovereignty. But, since political power does not disappear completely, it is
a matter of conjuncture that it has been concentrated elsewhere. It actually rests in the hands of
the ruling class and in their institution - the market - wherein they already have cumulative
economic power. It is also worth noting that federalism which limits the power of the State
seldom attempts to do the same thing vis-a-vis the market. Contrariwise, the limitations imposed
upon the State only increases the influence of the market to decide the terms and conditions of
the economic mechanism and development policies.
Hence, it is not surprising that liberal State, even in its theoretical form does not suggest
any freedom or right specific to the poor, but only throw them to the market where the rich calls
the shot. It could be argued that left to itself, the ‘majoritarian democracy’ with a critical will and
action could offer certain advantages to the poor, but the liberals’ fear of popular rule i.e., imprudent
mob rule, forces them to prevent the emergence of such a contingency21 and, moreover, in a
competitive free market regime the concept of equity between individuals and among units has
little relevance. In federal systems based on the classical liberal tradition, the central government
has a market-facilitating role to promote free trade between regions and has to protect domestic
capitalism from foreign competition. All these had been found in the initial phase of US federalism
(Elazar; 1987). This facilitating role of the central government varies in accordance with the
relative strength andl capabilities as well as the needs of capitalism in other federal democracies.
Thus, the so called autonomy given to the units is ineffective vis-a-vis the forces of market and
this will have a telling impact on the poor.
It is also true that because of the superiority of market over the State in capitalist federal
countries, it is the market and not the State that decides the code of conduct of federal governance
relating to economic affairs. Their Constitutions are meaningfully silent in this regard. Practicing
non-interventionist policies In economic governance, both the Constitution and the State structure
are made not only for each other, but together they further laissez faire capitalism. While in
those countries the Constitution ensures liberal politics, the principles related to the economy
are left completely to the market. The dominance of market upon the State in such federations
had been a common feature until the investiture of Keynesian economics that provided a welfare
face to the capitalist State. As Keynesian economics became the watchword of liberal
democracies of the West, federal governance also for the first time incorporated the sharing of
development responsibilities by both the centre and federating units in a cooperative manner.
In the US5A, for instance, the New Deal Policy significantly gave many new responsibilities
Market Preserving Federalism 225
i to the centra! government, and with this it had to act positively for development giving necessary
directions to the units to regulate free capitalism. The newly liberated countries in the developing
world also followed suit and many of them initiated a mixed economy in which the government
had great role in popular welfare. The positive liberal State thus emerged was not a limited State,
given its wider role in developmental affairs of its citizens and control over the market. It was in
many ways better than a simple night watchman State remaining merely as a necessary evil for
the rich and perennial evil for the poor. Moreover, as it was representative in nature, it was able
to maintain a relative autonomy between various classes in the society, at least in theory and
that too during the initial period. Therefore, the liberal State transformed its class character at
least in appearance, though not drastically in substance.
This shift was necessarily one from the market facilitating ‘competitive federalism’ to
development oriented cooperative federalism based on sharing responsibilities between the
central and the state governments.^^ This was a significant change in the liberal tradition of
federalism and it also caused a strong cleavage between the pro-market federalists and pro-
state political thinkers (positive liberalists).^^ However, the welfare feature of the liberal democratic
State was short lived. After a relatively short break of fifty years (1 930s-1 980s), one less than the
historical period of its traditional bonhomie with laissez faire capitalism, liberal democracy parted
with welfare in all the prominent western capitalist countries, first in USA followed by United
Kingdom.
Federalism in the Era of Globalization
Writers like, Milton Friedman, Keith Joseph et. al. In 1970s, and Hayek in 1 940s, criticized
the Keynesian State as a paranoia to the market forces as it causes slow growth and recession
consequent upon deficit budgeting and inflationary policies. The oil price fluctuations in the
^ 1 970s also proved that the command foreign exchange regime ought to go. Besides, the Multi
National Corporations (MNCs), which thrived on protective polices of welfare capitalism, also
began to assert in the global political economy, which corresponded to the quantum jump in the
total volume of international trade by that time. Under the influence of al! these factors, the
rupture with the past was complete (Keith Faulks; 1 999: 74-77).^'*
The initial urge in this new phase of economic practices entirely aimed at rolling back the
State from its interventionist role in the economy. This was done through revitalizing the concept
of limited government.^^ Here It is worthwhile to remember that liberal democracy at its inception
in the late medieval period was emancipatory in nature as it promised liberation from feudalism.
But, today a fulsome transition from the welfare State to laissez faire faces its own crises of
legitimacy since the State which retreats now is democratic in nature. The protagonists of
globalization rightly understand this and, therefore, try to justify the transition by citing economic
The Indian Journal of Political Science
226
exigencies resulting from the ‘inefficiency of the welfare State i/k i • .a
international political economv Their e • ws-a-vis the emergent new
too big for small
populace and the multiple oompulsionsLm the '^®™ods of the
In this formative context they araue that th international political economy.
-rstructumgpraaiammeotgfobaliialfon
people and pro-deveicpment Ho Jeter t , P°rt^®yed to be pro-
the justification for globalization and th ’ ^ the arguments renders wrong both
Atthe very outset
oontradicLTt pt^s mrot^^* " ^ —
As in the earlier epochte cilT '‘=
Europeancapirmol”^^^^^^^^^
product ofthestructuralcoLdfctonstT^^^^
the earlier epoch the new agenda of im -t- difference is that unlike
entire restructuring of the political frame is inevitable ThTse™^
asitsinnerdynamios-adoptionofDrivatbatinn„r ,• , natural process’ as far
capital f,ows-is concerned
phase with utmostpolitical calculation eco planned at the initial
The basic impetus to such a programme in IhZZ"^^^™"* ™®Pnerading.
instance, the MNCs, Multilateral Aaenoies i 4',r i® from external sources, for
andthedevetopedcapitarJZXrfL H
in.heopeneconomiccompe,itionattheinte«
unitary States have to''enZZranhgMrZf^^^^^
organizations and their governing institutions the • ^ri *°™® of State
and its institutions is unique. The peimeation offreemaZl°IZ^''^^’'°" ® ®‘®*®
tackle the multiple level governmental institutions = h c, ^ mechanism into a federation has to
Market Preservirig Federalism 227
pursuing the same. Hence, the neoliberals primarily focus on changing the policies of the centre
and compelling it to frame rules making the federating units amenable to free market mechanism.
This eventually forces the centre to intervene arbitrarily in the affairs of the states.
The process of globalization combines both inward permeation and outward integration of
the market through the different layers of a federal country. Through redefining the relationship
between market and State at each level of the federal structure in favour of the former, the
purpose of globalization is best served albeit destroying the democratic character of the State in .
the process.
Moreover, globalization and federalism as Interpreted by the neoliberal thinkers have a
functional mutuality. It seems meaningful that ideologically both federalism and neoliberalism
aim at limiting the State power. Whereas in the traditional capitalist federations the fundamental
economic role of the federal government was to facilitate national capitalism through free trade
between units, the difference in the globalization process is that, here it acts as the facilitator of
global capitalism and try to integrate both national and regional markets with the global one.
This process is highly counter productive for democracy as the apex body - here the
centre - initiates the decentralization process. A primary analysis shows that the centre devolves
to the units only that power which is essential for the purpose of market facilitation. By the
same token it would be difficult for the units to move against the market as the intricacies
involved in these conflicting and contradictory features of the devolution and decentralization
process would make it futile.
The above-mentioned analysis indicates several anomalies and confusions Inherent in
the federalization process in the age of globalization. Federal systems, due to their unique
institutional features and theoretical lenience towards the liberal view of the State, provide much
scope for globalization on many counts. Besides these, the iniquitous political economy provides
supportive consensus to this restructuring. For Instance, the nationwide strong indigenous
capitalist class (emerged partially as a result of the protective economic practices of the State)
foresees in globalization a unique opportunity to expand, compete and involve in the global
. political economy. As a condition precedent to this, it would naturally demand from the State
provisions which would facilitate its spread into the interior geographical areas and also sectors
hitherto controlled by the government. Slowly, but surely, it strikes a deal with the political/
bureaucratic classes - both regional and national. A consensus regarding the role of ^ate at
various levels vis-a-vis the global, national, and local market evolves subsequently. The formalization
of such a consensus also provides legitimacy to globalization policies and consequent structural
changes in the federal set-up.
The Indian Journal of Political Science
228
In the process of initiating a market facilitating federalism and later for sustaining it, each
institution and policy having specific statutory role in deciding inter-governmental relations need
overhauling.^® Initiatives in this regard usually begin with changing the macro economic policies
in which the central government has a commanding power. It is common that generally structural
adjustment loans necessitate stabilization policies which include the formulation and practice of
new macro economic principles. Deficit budgeting, fixed monetary management in foreign
exchange, Administrative Price Mechanism etc., have to be reversed in accordance with the
needs of free market economy. In all these crucial areas of macro economic management,
economic advice of the multilateral agencies becomes imperative. In federations the New
Economic Policy thus starts from above where the policies of the central government are adjusted
for the facilitation of free market economy. In due course, this starts percolating to the federating
units in the guise of fiscal compulsions, a situation of financial crisis often created by the centre.
Subsequently, the phase of second generation reforms dawns and the states are streamlined
further.
The new macro economic policies appear as multiple compulsions upon the federating
units, and in turn cause problems to them as they (units) are responsible for maintaining the
micro economy. It is well known that neoliberal economic managers attach greater importance
to pro-capitalist macro economic indices such as balanced budget, huge foreign exchange
reserve, full convertibility on capital and current accounts, low interest rate regime etc., than
micro economic performance, all of which are meaningful for structural adjustment in federalism.
At the macro economic level, globalization polices promote a supply side economy over the
demand side one, which finally hampers social spending. This is especially so in those federal
systems where the units are primarily responsible for developmental activities. Eventually the
stabilisation policies of the centre freeze the expenditure and income of the states which pushes
them towards financial crisis.
Usually coming after stabilization or concomitantly with it, the structural adjustment means
a re-modIfication of policy and readjustment of the institutional framework. Surely this alters the
institutional frame of federal governance. The policy change is more telling on those institutions
which act as intermediaries between the centre and state governments - for instance agencies
which allot central grants, apportion tax revenue and grant loans - as they have to reflect the
terms and conditions of the macro economic policies. The criteria for allotment, terms and
conditions for its appropriation and the rewards in return for better compliance - all become
reasons/compulsions to fall in line. These new criteria together with a drastic reduction in the
federal grants in the name of promoting symmetry in development and/or consequent upon the
general macro economic poycies, cause practical difficulties for the federating units in micro
economic management. All these trends further weaken regional political structures against
Market Preserving Federalism 229
the market. Since the market manages micro economic affairs in accordance with the free piay
of demand\supply mechanism, the marginalized humanity find no solace in the States’ soda!
security schemes, for the social security mechanism itself will have to be dismantled sooner
than later. The emphasis is always to provide concessions to the ruling class at the cost of the
poor rather than the other way round, bringing in its wake severe resource crunch. This later
becomes the alibi for greater privatization.^^
Further, one of the fundamentals of the federal idea - autonomy of the units - also collapses in
the neoliberal period considerably. At a time when national sovereignty itself is at a discount, the
territorial authority and jurisdiction of the units would be conspicuous by their absence. Instead
their authority is progressively eroded by the intervention of the omnipotent and constitutionally
unfettered international market and the market facilitating national government.
Here, it may be noted that in a federation the central government can pursue globalization
policies without the concurrence of the units. Interestingly, neoliberal economists often conceal
this point and instead present the changes introduced in the federal relations - fiscal relations in
particular - as products of national consensus at best or as demanded by the peripheries at
worst. For instance, Wallace. E. Oates says:
In the developing countries, we see widespread interest in fiscal decentralization with the
objective of breaking the grip of central planning that in view of many (regions), has failed to bring
their nations into a path of self sustaining growth (Oates; 1 999:1 1 20).
The argument of Oates is prima-facie incorrect as decentralization forms part of the
programme of rolling back the State and the authority devolved to the units in fiscal matters is
only to facilitate the market in every case, and that too mandatory rather than discretionary. To
crown all these, in every country the policies are implemented bypassing democratic
(representative) institutions.
Hence, the fiscal devolution is not initiated in response to popular demands or arrived at
through a consensus among the states, but most often it has been Imposed against their will
from above by the centre as part of shedding development responsibilities. It may also be noted
that, virtually in this process only the development responsibilities are devolved to the units
retaining vast powers of resource mobilization with the centre. All these prove that the neoiiberals’
propaganda that the changes in federalism in times of globalization would increase the autonomy
of the units is dubious.^®
Conclusion
The emerging federal set-up, therefore, is full of theoretical contradictions. Also, it poses
certain practical constraints to pursue developmental policies due to the deprivation of a democratic
230
The Indian Journal of Political Science
role for the State in accordance with the majoritarian will. On the other hand, every policy is
strictly monitored and coordinated and every possibility for an alternative experimentation is
thwarted. All these prove that autonomy and plurality are conspicuous by their absence. But at
the same time, much is there to argue that the ongoing process is highly centralized and
controlled by the market and the market facilitating central government.
To compound the situation, while the protagonists of Market Preserving Federalism
meticulously plan their agenda to enhance the role of the market in the economy, the emerging
regional disparities and class inequalities are left unaddressed - a by-product of straightjacketed
policies adopted by the centre without regard for differential capabilities of the states. This is
imperative, since competitive federalism compels all states to strive their best to transform their
policies to facilitate the market and convert themselves as an investment destination for capital
- both foreign and domestic. The gross revenue obtained from different states is not likely to be
shared among other backward states because in competitive federalism distributive justice has
little relevance. Moreover, any attempt on the part of the federal government to ensure a just
distribution of this revenue generated by the wealthier states or giving any concession or favour^
to the poorer states may be interpreted as asymmetrical treatment and against the very spirit of
competitive federalism. Thus contrary to cooperative federalism, in a competitive federalism the
concept of development as a common responsibility hardly exists.^®
Consequent on all these, the Market Preserving Federalism reflects a unique power
relation of the political economy. Theoreticallv , the emerging federal structure takes the form of
an omnipotent, politically uncontrolled and, therefore, undemocratic international market at the
top level; Nation States as market facilitators at the intermediary level; and federating units as
obedient followers of the market facilitation policies at the bottom. At the apex, since there is no
democratic control, the international market sets its own agenda. And at the other two levels,
the State vs. Market relation in normal course favours only the market which purports the rich
and disempowers the masses in both development and governance.
Notes
1. BartyR,WeingastintrDducedtheconceptofMari<etPrese™ingFederalismwhichappeared
simultaneously with the idea of globalization. The five yardsticks - sub-national autonomy
{Do the sub-national governments have ptimaty' authority over the local economy?), common
market (Does the national government have the authority to police the common market?),
hard budget constraints (Do aii governments, especialiy sub-national ones, face hard
budget constraints?); and institutionalized authority (is the allocation of political authority
institutionalized?) - he uses to compare different federations better explains his
commitment to neoliberalism. For details on Market Preserving Federalism see, Weingast,
Market Preserving Federalism 231
‘The Theory of Comparative Federalism and The Emergence of Economic Liberalization in
Mexico, China, and India’, http;//www. stanford.edu/~weingast/
weingast.comp.fedm.MSO.OO.pdf. Also see, Qian & Weingast,; 1 997:83-92; Weingast;
1 995: 1 -31 : and Rui J, P. de Figueiredo, Jr., and B. R. Weingast, ‘Seif-Enforcing Federalism’,
http://www.cfia.harvard.edu/conferences/piep/pie-p1 1 172001 /weingast.pdf .
2. ‘Theory’ shall be conceived as ‘a systematic (and realistic) understanding of a phenomenon
by establishing causal connections between different variables which generally leads to
the formulation of a framework which Is reproducible in different time and space with or
without modification.
3. ‘ideology’ as defined in this paper is composed of three parts - 1. A theoretical
understanding about a phenomenon or reality; 2. A vision about its future order; and 3. An
action programme to change, conserve or retrieve the reality in accordance with the
vision. Every social theory is ideological, and therefore is political.
4. Thomas Hueglin observes that federalism has been evolved as a political practice alongside
modern liberalism [Hueglin; 2003:12; Levy, ‘Federalism, Liberalism, and the Separation
of Loyalties’, http://ptw.uchicago.edu/Levy03.pdf; Riker; 1964&1987; and Buchanan;
1994:1-9].
5. John Locke, the father of modern federalism, favoured a federal government in this sense.
6. Liberalism has focused on constitutional themes since its inception. Liberalism fed upon
and virtually identified itself with the constitutional tradition (Vincent; 1 992: 48-49).
7. Different reasons for instance, economic, religious and security are cited for creating
federations in the classical period. [Andrea Bosco (ed.); 1991 : 169-91 & McGarry; 2002].
For an authentic account on how liberal democracy preserves ethnic pluralism, see
Choudhary; 2002: 54-78.
8. Again, Paul. E. Peterson argues that the national government by defending the country
against foreign aggression prevents external threats to liberty. The state government by
denying power to any single dictator does the same. (Peterson; 1995: 6).
9. For instance, Martin Diamond foresees following features in federalism - it devolves power
to the units and so limits the influence of national government making it less dangerous to
liberty; it promotes civic virtue by bringing public affairs within the reach of citizens; it
provides the people with political organization through which they can resist encroachment
by the national government; and it allows the government to respond flexibly to the local
needs. Martin
The Indian Journal of Political Science
232
10. “It has been contended that liberalism is also committed to a minima! State, one limited
to the tasks of internal order and external defence and distinguishing between private and
public realms”. See for details, Vincent; op. cit; 48 & Arblaster; 1984: 85-91 .
11. For an informed debate on this point, see Tocqueville; (trans.) George Lawrence; 1 969.
12. Thus Mill envisions a tolerant society in liberal countries which follow this principle. But
his critics, for instance Herbert Marcause, attack him and his concept of 'pure' or 'formal'
tolerance for, according to them (critics), it has turned into its opposite. Having once
played a positive role in the struggle for human emancipation, it has now become an
instrument of repression, a means through which those in power dominate whom they
rule (Marcause; 1 965: 95-1 37).
1 3. Consociational democracy is an idea by which the arbitrary will of the majority is prevented
through mechanisms like liberal constitutionalism, individual rights and federal organization
of State. Liberals prefer this type of democracy to preserve a capitalist economy. In
multicultural societies they use it to resolve ethnic conflicts, and demand regional autonomy.
With the advent Of neoliberal economic policies, the consociational democracy gained
wider acceptance among the liberal intelligentsia.
14. John Adams also says that the rich ought to have an influential barrier in the Constitution
against being robbed, plundered and murdered as well as the poor, and this cannot be
with out an independent Senate (Parington; 1 927:317).
15. For details of the debates between conservatives and liberals on federalism and its final
settlement in twentieth century, see Dilger; 2000:98-1 07& Lakoff; 1998:435-65.
1 6. From the progressive era at the end of the nineteenth century to the 'New Deal liberalism'
of the 1930s to the 1950s, liberals seeking to regulate the economy and extend social
programmes saw in states' rights only a cosy, incestuous relationship between giant
corporations and the state governments they overshadowed. Countervailing federal power
became the liberal strategy for reform. Conservatives upheld state powers as the best
protection against misguided federal bureaucrats and unnecessary regulatory and social
welfare legislation. After the political upheavals of the 1 960s, however, liberal-conservative
differences over federalism have become blurred. Student movements of the 1 960s called
for local ‘participatory democracy’, civil rights leaders advocated ‘community control’, and
liberals in many policy areas came to advocate reforms which involved inventive mixtures
of federal, state, local, and even private sector initiatives. Conservatives, for their part,
while continuing to advocate the dismantling of federal New Deal programmes, found
themselves advocating the expansion of federal power in other areas such as the
Market Preserving Federalism 233-
Communications Decency Act and its attempt to regulate morality in a technologically
new era (Smith; 1 982: 1 -8).
17. Despite its earlier connection with individual anarchism of Proudhon, the USSR’s
experimentation of it within socialist framework for the sole purpose of imperial unification
of neighbouring States, and attempts by developing countries and the welfare capitalist
States of western democracies to use it as an agent of development, it has been a firm
ally of the liberal family.
1 8. Saunders defines capitalism as a system in which individuals or combination of individuals
compete with each other to accumulate wealth by buying the rights to use land, labour
and capital (means of production) in order to produce goods or services with the intention
of selling them in the market for profit.
1 9. Ralph Miliband considers this as the economic function of the capitalist State. (Miliband;
1979:90).
20. W. H. Riker who belongs to the rational choice school, contends that majoritarian
democracy is irrational and market makes more rational choices than the ballot boxes
do. He makes a difference between liberalism and populism. See for details, Keith Dowding,
‘Can Populism Be Defended? William Riker, Gerry Mickie and Interpretations of
Democracy’, http://personallse.ac.uk/DOWDING/Files/Can%20Popuiism%20Be%20Def
ended_web_(1 1_1 0„G4).pdf; Michael W-ohlgemuth, ‘Schumpeterian Political Economy
and Downsian Public Choice: Alternative Theories on Democracy: A Review’, http://
www.walter-eucken-institut.de/publikationen/02_7bw.pdf; Norman Schofield, ‘Constitutions,
Voting and Democracy: A Review’, http://schofield.wustl.edu/ paperlS. pdf; and Riker;
1986.
21. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, ‘Federalism’, http://plato.stanfordedu/ent ries/
federalism/. Also see, Elazar; 1987.
22. Co-operative federalism is a system in which both Federal government and the federating
units share responsibilities for public welfare. But in a competitive federalism the units
and the centre try to maximize private investment and promote efficiency and economy in
economic governance. The major features of cooperative federalism are: it is a positive
concept; there is an emphasis on shared duties and actions among units; it is need
based; there is an emphasis on process than structure; and it manifests the will of the
people and therefore, is consonant with participatory democracy. Ideally, in a competitive
federalism competition between governments results in the best society, with more freedom
and prosperity. There should be multiple competing governments, and people should be
The Indian Journal of Political Science
234
free to choose which government to live under. Ail these are based on the very principles
of freedom of consumer in a market economy (Pant; 1 997:1 34 & Watts: 1 968: 1 2).
23. Federalism implying a limited government in classical liberal tradition was unsuitable to
take up welfare measures. The principle of non-interference by the Nation States in the
private autonomous spaces of individuals and units (a usual liberal postulate of federalism)
was necessarily reflected in the federal systems of capitalist countries. The antagonism
of classical liberals to the idea of State as a democratic entity performing an active
developmental role in federalism, on the one side, entails the aforesaid connection between
liberalism and federalism and, on the other side, reflects the real economic content of
classical liberal form of federalism i.e., laissez faire capitalism, in 1930s, the crisis of
capitalism was beyond the control of the state governments given the macro economic
corrections and international cooperation needed to avert the predicament. This naturally
enhanced the role of the central government in federal systems which was hesitantly
welcomed by the libera! federalists (Freeden; 2003: 37& Goodwin; 2003: 202-218).
24. Anthony Arblaster puts this phase like this, “It seems doubtlessly that by this time in
USA, Australia and Japan, the entire political spectrum further lies to the right” (Arblaster;
1998:107).
25. However, the reinvigoration of classical liberalism and laissez faire capitalism is not easier
unless the neoliberals settle the conflicts between the popular demand for welfare and the
unpopular requirements of globalized capitalism. This is because unlike the classical
period State today is more democratic in form. Even though the ‘ghost of communism’
liberated by Marx and Engels, seemed to be evaporating slightly, and even in the 1 980s,
Soviet communism was only a minor threat to the reviving capitalist hegemony, the
neoliberals who tried to assert in the policy making institutions related to the global and
national economic governance found theirformidable challenge in the democratized popular
State with a welfare responsibility (a creation of Keynesian economics and positive
liberalism) functioning on the principles of majoritarian democracy. In fact, in the post cold
war period the trend is that much evident that the democratic governance has become
more market friendly. The effort is to theorize it on classical liberal lines and free it from its
developmental functions through de-democratization and de-politicization.
26. Therefore, the neoliberals advocate maximization of free market and minimization of popular
State.
27. The neoliberal policies which started in US during the Presidency of Ronald Reagan
initiated steps to transform cooperative federalism into competitive and market preserving
Market Preserving Federalism 235
one. He sought to redefine and restructure the responsibilities of governments in the
federal system while significantly lowering the overall commitment of federal government
to providing aid to the states and local governments. For instance he remarks: “We are
not cutting the budget for the sake of sounder financial management. This is only a first
step toward returning power to the states and local governments” (Cole & Tacbel; 1 986:
5).
28. There are contradictory opinions about whetherthe role of the central government increases
or decreases in the distribution of resources between units in a Market Preserving
Federalism. For example, Bagchi argues that the redistributive role of centre assumes
greater urgency in federations like India where regional disparities tend to accentuate as
the economy gets market oriented. On the other hand, Reetha Tremblay contends that
the central government which has to favour free market mechanism would not perform the
redistributive functions (Bagchi; 2000: 3024 & Tremblay: 2003: 339).
References :
1 . Arblaster, Anthony (1 998): Democracy, New Delhi: World View Publications.
2. (1984): The Rise and Decline of Western Liberalism, Oxford: Basil
Blackwell.
3. Bagchi, Amareesh (2000): ‘Rethinking Federalism: Overview of Current Debates with
Some Reflections in Indian Context’, Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. 35, No. 33,
August 12-18.
4. Ball, A.R. (1 981): Modern Politics and Government, London: Macmillan Publishers Ltd.
5. Bosco, Andrea (ed.) (1991): The Federal Idea: The Idea of Federalism from the
Enlightenment to 1945, Vol. I, New York: Lothian Foundation Press.
6. Buchanan, James M. (1 994): ‘Notes on the Liberal Constitution’, Cato Journal, Vol. 14,
No. 1 , Spring - Summer.
7. Choudhary, Sujith (2002): ‘National Minorities and Ethnic Immigrants: Liberalism’s Political
Sociology’, Journal of Political Philosophy, Vol. 1 0, No. 1 , March.
8. Cole, Richard L., and Delbert A. Tacbel (1986): ‘The New Federalism: Promises,
Programmes and Performance’, Publius, Vol. 16, No. 1, Winter.
9. Diamond, Martin (1981): The Founding of the Democratic Republic, Itasca: Peacock
Publishers.
19. Hueglin, Thomas. O. (2003): ‘Compounded Federal Democracy’, Indian Journal of Federal
Studies, Vol. 4, No. 1.
20. Lakoff, Sanford (1 998): ‘Tocqueville, Burke, and the Origins of Liberal Conservatism’,
Review of Politics, Vol. 60, No. 3, Summer.
21 . Lazki. H. J (2005): The Rise of European Liberalism: An Essay in interpretation, Delhi:
Aakar Books.
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The Indian Journal of Political Science
Voi. LXVIll, No. 2, Apr.-Jun., 2007
STATE ADMINISTRATION IN INDIA : DECLINING TRENDS
K. K. Puri
Besides politics of populism, terrorism, inter-state disputes, unprincipled alliances to
form coalitions etc. are other declining trends which require immediate attention. If
steps are not taken to solve these problems and are allowed to continue, the state
administration will not be able to function effectively and there may prevail chaos. On
the constitutional side by appointing non-partisan persons as governors the prestige
of this office can be restored. The politicization of bureaucracy should be checked
and stringent measures should be taken to contain corruption and maintain law and
order.
State administration is a subject of great interest and importance especially in a federal
country like India having a number of federating units.'* States being responsible for running
administration and execution of development programmes, the efficiency and effectiveness of
the administration of the entire country depends upon the vigour and competence of state
administration. Though the states vary considerably in terms of size, population, resources,
social and cultural milieu but due to the common administrative set up, during the last fifty-
nine years some such developments have erupted which have constitutional and administrative
bearing on state administration. As it is not possible to elaborate all these developments in
this paper, an effort has been made to highlight a few areas of great concern relating to state
administration.
The firs trend in State Administration having relegable effect on its functioning Is the
politicization of the office of the Governor. The appointment of Governor has become purely a
political affair. In the beginning efforts were made to appoint people with high profile as governors
but with the passage of time as high profile statesmen became a rare species, the party in
power in the centre started accommodating rejected political leaders on gubernatorial
assignments. The views expressed by Setalvad Study Team of Indian Administrative Reforms
Commission, that “many of those” who have held office of the governor since independence
“have fallen short” of the requisite standard, due largely to the “the lowly place given to this
office”, which had come to be treated as a sinecure for mediocrities or as a consolation prize
for “burnt out politicians",^ hold true even today. Rather there is further deterioration as
appointments of governors are swayed by party considerations, no matter whichever political
party or coalition is in power at the centre. Since the centre has also the power to remove the
governor person appointed on partisan basis, “for the fear of losing his office, or of not getting
another state on the expiry of his current term” may heed to the promptings of the union more
carefully and diligently than what is offered to him under Article 163 of Constitution. It is,
therefore, reasonable to hold that the Governor Is more an agent of the union than the head of
the state over whose destiny he presides.^ Moreover, the usage of consulting is adopted
The Indian Journal of Political Science
240
keeping in view the convenience of the central government. The declaration by the then Union
Home Minister Mr. Y.B. Chavan in Lok Sabha on 1 7th Nov. 1 967 that Chief Minister of a state,
“has no right to veto the appointment of the Governor of his state, “is a testimony to the fact
that the party in power at the centre generally give priority to political considerations and
ignore constitutional conventions while making appointment of governors. Under such
circumstances the governor acts more as an agent of the union or the party in power in the
centre and the latter uses him as its representative to control state administration. His position
and prestige as head of state is undermined.
The practice of change of governors with the change of government or party at the
centre is not only against the spirit of the constitution but also has adverse effect on their
position. This affects the concept of neutrality of governors and makes them partisan in character.
The way the UPA government in order to accommodate its own persons asked the Governors
of about nine states to submit their resignations has far reaching political bearing on the
position of the institution of governorship. Through this attempt the UPA government has
played havoc with the important office of the governor and the position of the governor as head
of the state has greatly been affected.
The use of discretionary powers in party interest is also disgusting. The governor is
empowered to act in his discretion on various occasions viz., selecting the Chief Minister
before the formation of ministry, dismissal of a ministry, dissolution of state legislative assembly,
seeking information from the Chief Minister relating to legislative and administrative matters
etc. Of all these use of discretion, when no single party or alliance (formed before and after the
election) enjoys majority in the legislative assembly and dissolution of state legislative assembly
are matters of great concern. Often this power is used keeping in view the political
considerations. The misuse of power by the governors of Goa, Jharkhand and Bihar are eye
openers as to how the governors of these states misused their discretion to please their
masters in the centre. No doubt these are harsh cases of constitutional impropriety. Similar
cases or instances also took place in the past. In May 1982 in Haryana after the Assembly
Election, when no single political parly could gain majority in the legislative assembly, the
then Governor, Mr. G.D. Tapasey on the one hand asked Sh. Devi Lai, leader of the Lok Da! to
present his supporters before him to p rove his majority within two-days and on the other hand
he appointed Sh. Bhajan Lai, Leader of the Indian Ncitional Congress as Chief Minister on the
same day. Such happenings are t'eally a matter vof great concern and effect the state
administration adversely.
Under these circumstances great care should be taken in the selection of persons for
the office of the governor. Governors should not be politicians who have become unpopular and
unacceptable. The appointment of Governor should not be used as a means of rewarding
persons who have served the party in the past. The persons appointed should be those with
wide experience of public affairs and not identified with a piarticular party or group. Their term
state Admlolstration In India : Declining Trends 241
should not be extended nor their appointment be repeated from one state to another. Only by
the observance of high standards, the office so pivotal in centre-state relations under the
constitution can serve its constitutional purpose. Governors with high profile will use their
discretion to a great extent diligently without any political bias and partisan interests.
II
Non-cordial interaction between the Governor and Chief Minister is another area of
concern of state administration. Till 1967 as there was hardly any non-congress government
in the states, there was no such controversy. During this period highly competent statesmen
like Sarojini Naidu, K.M. Munshi, Sri Prakash, Mrs. Vijay Laxmi Pandit etc. acted as governors
and high profile leaders like Rajagopalachari, Morarji Desai, G.B. Pant, B.C. Roy etc. worked
as Chief Ministers who neither liked to be controversial nor liked their counterparts to do
anything to hamper their mutual relations. It was only during the post 1967 era that political
homogeneity between the governors and Chief Ministers gave way to political heterogeneity
and the atmosphere became tense and there started conflict and acrimony between some of
the Governors and Chief Ministers. Over ambitious and self-aggrandizing Chief Ministers started
taking it as a matter of pride is not obeying the basic courtesies and regarding the governors
as constitutional figures without any power and privilege, in Haryana there have been several
instances when relations between the Chief Ministers and the Governor were not cordial rather
become controversial. The Chief Ministers like Devi Lai, Om Prakash Chautata, in order to
show their political superiority tried to dominate over their respective governors. Some Chief
Ministers even went to the extent of demanding abolition of the office of the Governor. Such
confronting situation lowers the prestige of both the offices and affect the general administration
of the state.
Ill
Another trend in state administration is decline of bureaucracy. Bureaucracy is an
indispensable part of administration. Some regard administration as an act of bureaucracy.
Bureaucracy is known for is impartiality, neutrality, anonymity and competence. The concept
of neutrality and impartiality worked for about two decades in the beginning after independence
but thereafter it came under great strain. The assumptions on which this model worked are not
entirely valid today. In the present set up, both in centre and states, bureaucracy is no more
impartial and non-committed. The impartiality, integrity and dedication of civil services have
been impinged"^ and involvement of bureaucracy has been politicized. It is neither neutral nor
anonymous and the classical theory of civil service neutrality seems to have been forgotten.®
Politicized bureaucracy is involved consciously or unconsciously, implicitly or explicitly in the
stream of politics or party in opposition. The nexus between bureaucrats and politicians has
jeoparadized the impartial trait of bureaucrats and it has lost its neutral and anonymous
characters. There is also a growing inclination among civil servants to develop unhealthy
loyalties around individual ministers with a view to secure suitable placement or advancement
The Indian Journal of Political Science
in their career or obtaining lucrative employment after retirement.*
242
Thus it can be said that bureaucracy at the state level is by and large politicized. There
is growing empirical evidence to support the view that neither civil servants strictly adhere to
the principle of neutrality nor are the politicians intent in maintaining it. In democracy where
there is constant interplay of various pulls and pressures, bureaucracy cannot develop complete
immunity from the social and political forces, however, parochial they might be.^
The decline of bureaucracy has also been aggravated due to supersession in civil services.
Respect for seniority in age and position has been a part of Indian ethos from time immemorial,®
It was considered as the most objective basis for promotion. But in the present set up this
principle has been oftenly eroded both at the centre and the states. In the name of meritocracy
senior officers are more often superseded. There are several cases of suppression at the
central level such as when Krishana Swamy, P.K. Kaul, T.N. Seshan were appointed as
Cabinet Secretaries and recently Shivshankar Menon has been appointed as Foreign Secretary
by ignoring a large number of senior officers. But these are said to be exceptions to the
genera! rule of seniority where merit has been given priority. On the other hand, in the states
such cases are innumerable. Infact, suppression in civil services is tremendous. Hardly, there
is any state where seniority has not be disregarded and in the name of merit persona! loyalty
and allegiance are rewarded. Practically, in all the states with the change of government a
chain of transfers and appointments starts and this process scales down from higher to lower
levels of administrative hierarchy. Generally, while making the appointments of Chief Secretary
and other higher officers of administration, seniority is ignored and in the name of merit favours
are showered on immeritable incumbents. Political considerations in appointments, promotions
and other service matters in disturbing scale is a matter of great concern. But this does not
mean that merit should be altogether ignored. It has its own merit. As seniority is important
and cannot be dismissed as irrelevant, there is a need to have a proper and judicious balance
between seniority and merit. The politicians should not take shelter behind merit in order to
accommodate their favoured civil servants. Some objective measures should be laid down to
decide merit and seniority should be sparingly over-ruled. The appointment of the Chief Secretary
and other high ups should be made out of a panel of three senior officers as the Hon’ble
Supreme Court has directed in the case of selection of Directors-Generai of Police of the
states.® The suggestion of Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh to get a comprehensive law
enacted to bring reform in civil services is also welcomed as it proposes to set up committee
of peers, enjoying credibility to make recommendations for superior appointments i.e.
Secretaries and heads of para-military forces and intelligence agencies at the centre and
Chief Secretaries and Directors General of Police in states.
Frequent transfers is another matter of great anxiety which effects the morale of public
services and the functioning of state administration. Transfers at the top are the most effective
method of impious politicians in power to deal with inconvenient officers and to replace them
State Administration in India : Declining Trends 243
with their own supporters in bureaucracy. It is generally seen at the state level, that whenever
there is change of government, there Is a change In bureaucratic hierarchy too. The officer at
the higher level are invariably transferred and while doing this, the requirement and efficiency
of administration is generally given no consideration. In several states the average tenure of a
District Magistrate or Deputy Commissioner, Superintendent of Police and other higher officers
is rarely more than a few months. The frequent transfers not only demoralize the officers but
aiso brings instability in administration which is detrimental for the security and welfare of the
people. Here too, it is required that officers should not be disturbed before a fixed term in
normal circumstances.
IV
Another area of concern confronted by state administration is corruption. Although the
incidence of corruption in public life is a world-wide phenomenon, but in recent years it has
assumed frightening proportions in India. Since every aspect of national life is tainted with
corruption state administration cannot be an exception. Infact, our saddest failure is the inordinate
increase in spread of corruption in ail spheres of life. Corruption is rampant In public life and
honesty has become a rare commodity. There is a plethora of factors encouraging corruption
and one is at his wits to decide which factor is more Important than the other. Social, economic
and political factors have added to this malady. The nexus of civil servants with power brokers
and use of questionable means to acquire more has added to this menace. The lust for power
and craze for higher status have further added to the gravity of the situation. The disproportionate
wealth possessed by bureaucrats and politicians speaks volume about corruption going into
the roots of our administration. Some people go to the extent to remark that corruption has
been institutionalized. Some believe that corruption at the state level is more as compared to
the centre since all the development activities are performed at state level. Several committees
and commissions have been appointed and efforts made to contain corruption and bring the
corrupt officials and politicians to book but the expected results are not coming. As corruption
has not been combated in any way, people doubt the integrity of the government in eradicating
corruption. Some opine that while government stands against corruption it does not believe in
weeding out corrupt officials as there has not been any concerted, coordinated, effective and
continuous fight to prevent corruption or prosecute and punish the corrupt.'’^ Our delaying and
cumbersome judicial process and procedure has further added to the gravity of the situation.
To contain this menace it would be better to make the institution of lokayukta effective with
wide ranging powers. The government should accept the recommendations of the civil service
reform committee head by Sh. P.L. Hota to amend Article 31 1 to enable the President and the
Governors to dismiss or remove public servants summarily in the corrupt practices or having
assets disproportionate to known sources of income.
Th© Indian Journal of Political Science
244
V
Deterioration of law and order is another matter of great concern. Daily we read news of
rape, kidnapping, theft, robbery and other social and economic offences. Terrorism,
communalism, smuggling etc. have further added fuel to the fire. So far as traditional crimes
are concerned the urban areas have been special targets of criminal activity and have contributed
in no small measures to general sense of insecurity in the public. Like other states there are
some areas in Punjab and Haryana where crimes are rampant and life of common man is
always in danger. The common man looks to the police to provide the requisite element of
protection to him form the aggressive onslaughts of anti-social elements and also successful
apprehension and punishment of the criminals when serious offences occur. But due to
political interference and criminalization of politics the law enforcing agencies sometimes
become ineffective to combat crime with unflinching determination and force. The psychosis
of fear has created an increasing lack of confidence in the law enforcement agency and this
has been aggravated by the media whose investigative journalism has brought to the fore the
lapses in organizational systems, the sense of dedication of the personnel entrusted with the
task and the genera! incapacity to prevent and control crime."''^
VI
Of late political parties in India have been taking recourse to the politics of vendetta.
This alarming practice has become more common at the state level. A political party on
coming into power in a state tries to pursue the political of vendetta against its predecessor
ruling political party. As a result the new state government orders enquiries against the former
ministers and in some cases even bureaucrats, allegedly cpnsidered to the close to the
outgoing political party, are made targets out of vendetta. Moreover, all this is done in a
personalized manner. Sometimes, even some former ministers are got arrested on alleged
charges of corruption or misuse of powers etc. Reversing decisions of the predecessor
governments has become a routine for successor governments. In most of the cases such
steps are taken just to malign the image of the political party earlier in power and to take
political mileage out of it. All this amounts to political vindictiveness. As a consequence of it
leaders of the victim political vindictiveness. As a consequence of it leaders of the victim
political party issue public warning to the ruling political party and even to bureaucrats that
when returned to power will pursue cases against them and avenge the harassment and
humiliation its members have to undergo at the hands of ruling party. This is a cause for
concern as the party in power instead of devoting its total energies to the task of development
of the state indulges in avoidable political conflicts which cause irreparable damage to the
state administration. Moreover, nothing worthwhile comes out of it as after sometime the dust
settles down causing a severe setback to the system as a whole. It leads not only to the
politicalisation of bureaucracy but also lowers their morale. We have been witness to such a
practice in the states of Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh etc.
state Administration in India : Declining Trends 245
in the recent past. Such practices of political vendetta should be avoided to safeguard the
administrative system form degenerated poljticialisation.
VII
By and large the appointment of Chief Minister has also become another area of great
concern in the working of state administration. According to the constitution, though the
Governor of the state is expected to appoint a person as Chief Minister, who commands
majority in the State Legislative Assembly. But the practice is contrary to the fact as in
majority of the cases the Chief Ministers are imposed by the central leadership of the party
having majority in the State Legislative Assembly. This practice has assumed a matter of
great concern as in most of the cases the Legislative Assembly group of the majority party in
state legislative assembly leave it to the central leadership of the party as to who would be
their leader as Chief Minister. Such a tendency is undemocratic and against the spirit of the
constitution for it usurps the right of the members of the state legislative assembly to elect
their own leader. It leads to centralization of power in the hands of the party high command
and is a practice not only undemocratic but also against the norms of popular rule. This also
leads to confrontation in the party as sometimes a leader is imposed by the central leadership
contrary to the wishes of the member of the State Legislative Assembly. Moreover, the Chief
Minister appointed by the party high command oftenly becomes a stooge in the hands of the
party high command and loses his autonomy to take actions and make decisions independently.
On number of occasions such appointments lead to non-cordial relations between the Chief
Minister and their aspirants for this post in the party. This further results in the emergence of
dissatisfaction and factionalism among the members of the ruling party in the State Legislature.
All such developments lead to instability and incoherence in state administration which in
some cases lead to chaos resulting into disintegration in the party. Therefore, keeping in view
the spirit of democracy and Indian constitution, the practice of imposing Chief Ministers by the
< party high command should be checked so that the members of the State Legislature may be
able to express their choice and elect the leader of their own liking. This system will make
democracy strong and provide an opportunity to the State leaders to act independently in
making their decisions for running the state administration without any outside control and
interference.
Besides politics of populism, terrorism, inter-state disputes, unprincipled alliances to
form coalitions etc. are other declining trends which require immediate attention. If steps are
not taken to solve these problems and are allowed to continue, the state administration will
not be able to function effectively and there may prevail chaos. On the constitutional side by
appointing non-partisan persons as governors the prestige of this office can be restored. The
politicization of bureaucracy should be checked and stringent measures should be taken to
i contain corruption and maintain law and order.
The Indlari Journa! of Political Science
References :
246
1 . At present India comprises of 28 States and 7 Union Territories.
2. Summary of the Setalved Study Team’s Report relating to the office of Governor. The
Statesman, New Delhi, Dec. 1967. Also see Gurmukh Nihal Singh, “The Role of the
Governor in India” Delhi. The Indian Political Science Review, Vol. ll. No. 3 and 4, April-
Sept., 1968, pp. 155-156.
3. S.C. Dash, The role of the Governor in India, Delhi. The Indian Political Science Review,
Vol. II, No. 3 and 4 April, Sept. 1968, p. 187.
4. R.S. Verma, Bureaucracy in India, Bhopal, Progress Publishers, 1 973, p.66
5. S. Bhatnagar, Politics of Posting and Transfers of Government officials” in K.K. Puri
(ed.,) Public Administration; Indian Spectrum, Allahabad, Kitab Mahal, 1 985, p. 202.
6. R.B. Puri, “Understanding Bureaucratic Behaviour" in K.K. Puri (ed.) Public
Administration; Indian Spectrum, Allahabad, Kitab Mahal, 1985, p. 170.
7. Kuldeep Mathur, “A Committed Bureaucracy for India; Notes Towards Evolving a Model
in K.K. Puri (ed).. Public Administration; Indian Spectrum, Allahabad, Kitab Mahal,
1 985, pp. 70-71.
8. Inder Malhotra, “Supersession in Civil services, “Chandigarh, the tribune, Sept. 8, 2006,
p.12.
9. The Tribune, Chandigarh, Sept. 23, 2006.
1 0. Quoted by Inder Malhora, op. cit.
11. R.B. Jain, Public Administration in India. New Delhi. Deep and Deep Publications,
2002, p. 222.
12. ibid p. 246.
13. M.A. Aleem and Shmim Eleem, State Administration in Andhra Pradesh, Hyderabad.
Allied Publishers, Pvt. Ltd. 1985, p. 31.
14. Ibid.
The Indian Journal of Political Science
Vol. LXVIil, No. 2, Apr.-Jun., 2007
PANCHAYATi RAJ INSTITUTIONS AND PARALLEL BODIES IN
ANDHRA P-RADESH : A MODEL FOR SYNERGY
Gopinaih Reddy
Decentralization is being actively considered by the Government of Andhra Pradesh by
interfacing between the PRIs and CBOs. The various CBOs that the government has
created have resulted in spurting of many parallel structures, thus weakening the
panchayats. The multiplicity of organizations has created confusion and has also resulted
in conflict/s. The interface has become an important part of the GoAPs agenda in order
to help make the numerous CBOs become more effective, sustainable and to strengthen
the PRIs. A word of caution here is to accept that the interlinkages would have limited
role and affect in the process of decentralization and good governance unless definitive
measures are taken up by the Government to devolve functions, funds and functionaries
to the PRIs, ensuring decentralized planning and convergence. Empowering the PRIs
would necessitate the higher authorities to disempower themselves. Devolution of power
and authority from the State Government to the three-tiered PRIs would create space
and opportunity to ensure closer measures of accountability.
Introduction
Essentially there are two schools of thought prevalent today that put forward arguments
for and against panchayats and parallel bodies. Those on the side of Panchayats argue that
benefits from user committees managed natural resource projects such as watershed and
forests are not sustainable in the long run. After the source of funds from the project dries
up, committees are disbanded or abandoned and the livelihood base of the poor remain
marginally improved at all. Perhaps in some cases they create some sustainable social
capital by raising awareness amongst the poor.
It is argued that multiplicity of Committees is a means of getting more benefits from
the government. The bureaucracy too favours these committees as it is able to have a
greater say in the implementation of the programmes through these committees. Committees
also create a broader leadership base and provide an opportunity for more people to be
involved in decision making through membership (Mid-Term Appraisal of the Ninth Plan,
1999; Reddy, 2003).
The present approach through user committees raises several questions about the
links that exist and should exist between the committees and the PRIs. Reasons are many
to suppose that this would ensure the sustainability of development programmes.
Firstly, PRIs are responsible for development planning for the whole gram Panchayat
and would be the natural apex body for linking several development programmes into their
objectives. Secondly they are democratically elected and so reflect local needs and priorities.
Third critical factor is that it will be more cost effective for PRIs to be the apex linking body
one already so established in this function.
Organic Linkages to be established between PRIs and Various CBOs
It is increasingly felt that differenttiers of the PRIs and the various CBGs (Community
The Indian Journal of Political Science
248
Based Organisations) need to be linked institutionally within the existing institutional frame
work without creating new structures. Further it is felt that PRIs should form the overarching
body to provide an integrating framework for better and effective management of practices
of all the service delivery mechanisms.
At present, the linkages between democratic and participatory institutions are rather
formal in nature. PRI bodies’ representation is mandatory in all the participatory institutions
though there are no functional linkages between them.
Strategy / Framework for synergy
The argument was always on how to bring the WC (Watershed Committees) under
the purview of PRIs. The guidelines failed to take into account some of the new initiatives
followed by NGOs in the recent years. For instance, in Karnataka PRIs implement WDP with
the help of sub-committees, while an NGO in Andhra Pradesh namely Rural Development
Trust (RDT) introduced the village development council (VDC) to oversee the smooth
implementation of Watershed Development Programme (Sivanna and Reddy, 2005). While
in the case of Karnataka, the sub-committees are formal institutional entities under the PR
system while in AP the VDCs are informal arrangements by an NGO. Both are recognized
by the village PRI and function in a similar way though sub-committees are monitored by the
village PRI and PRI members are part of the VDC.
According to a study which iooked into legal aspects of PRIs involvement in NRM in
the three Indian States namely Maharastra, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan states mentions
that the existing legal framework provides the requisite room for interrelationship of the
Panchayats with the user groups. The advantages of the user groups as smaller and
specialized entities can be explored within the Panchayat Raj framework by the mechanism
of committees. However, the efficacy of the Panchayat Raj institutions and the associated
user-groups can be assessed with relation to their conduciveness in realization of the rights
at the local level. This is particularly important when widespread emphasis is being attached
to the rights of the local people in the discourse of participatory natural resource management,
(Upadhya, 2005).
Decentralization is being actively considered by the Government of Andhra Pradesh
by interfacing between the PRIs and CBOs. The various CBOs that the government has
created have resulted in spurting of many parallel structures, thus weakening the panchayats.
The multiplicity of organizations has created confusion and has also resulted in conflict/s.
The interface has become an important part of the GoAPs agenda in order to help make the
numerous CBOs become more effective, sustainable and to strengthen the PRIs. A word of
caution here is to accept that the interlinkages would have limited role and affect in the
process of decentralization and good governance unless definitive measures are taken up
by the Government to devolve functions, funds and functionaries to the PRIs, ensuring
Paochayati Ra| Institutions and Parallel Bodies In Andhra Pradesh : 249
decentralized planning and convergence. Empowering the PRls would necessitate the higher
authorities to disempower themselves. Devolution of power and authority from the State
Government to the three-tiered PRls would create space and opportunity to ensure closer
measures of accountability.
Interface between the PRls and the CBOs would usher in better mechanisms of
accountability. Linkages are necessary to sustain and strengthen the CBOs and make them
accountable to “all" the stakeholders at the Gram Sabha. The linkages already created and
established by the various Acts and other mechanisms have helped in creating only a token
representation to the PRI members. The non-voting powers bestowed on the ward members
and the Sarpanches has diluted their presence and participation. Also, the Gram Sabha’s
are used, if at all, for beneficiary selection. Gram Sabha should become an important forum
in micro-planning where the different stakeholders meet to plan for the resources that are
available to achieve convergence. Convergence cannot take place through a government
order, (Sitaram, 2002).
Institutional and Functional Linkages :
The AP PRI act provides for seven Standing Committees at the Zilla Parishad and
functional committees at Gram Panchayat. The Standing Committees have been formed
and the functional committees are being rejuvenated now. The rules of the Act specify the
functional Committees of agriculture, public health and sanitation and communication are a
must. With the permission of the Commissioner, more committees can be constituted. In
order to strengthen the local bodies, the GoAP passed a GO (Ms. No. 25) on 21st February
2002, which specifies for the formation of the following committees at GP: (1) Agriculture,
(2) Environment Conservation, Public Health and Sanitation (3) Water Conservation and
Water Supply (4) Education (5) Poverty alleviation and (6) Family Welfare. The GO does not
specify the functions of each committee. The functions of some of the committees of
Agriculture, Water Supply, and Public Health are specified in the Rules of the PRI Act.
In order to build the present design of the interface, the following committees are
suggested with slight modifications to the GO.
1. Agriculture and allied activities.
2. Education.
3. Poverty Alleviation.
4. (Family) Women and Child Welfare.
5. Environmental Conservation, Water Conservation and Water Supply.
6. Public Health and Sanitation.
7. Planning and Finance.
250
The Indian Journal of Political Science
The CBOs, depending on their mandates, should be linked to the different functional
committees. It is to consider those groups with specific roles for eg Mothers Committee
which works for the welfare of women and child to be linked to the Women and Child Welfare
Functional Committee, those with the mandate of looking into natural resources like the
Watersheds, etc should get interfaced into the functional committee dealing with
Environmental Conservation and so on. The objective of all the groups and the PRls is to
tackle different dimensions of poverty. The interface would build a two way accountability
mechanism, thereby contributing to the mechanisms of effective linking especially when the
CBOs are formed at the Gram Sabhas.
1 . Agriculture and allied activities
2. Education - School Education Committees
3. Poverty Alleviation - District Poverty Initiatives Programme SHGs
4. (Family) Women and Child Welfare - DWACRA, Mothers Committee
5. Environmental Conservation, Water Conservation and Water Supply -
Watershed Committee.
6. Public Health and Sanitation
The Process of Inter Linkage :
CBO Representation ; it is the practice in each of the CBO to choose a chairperson
by a process of selection/election at the grassroots (Habitation, Village, School). From among
the chairpersons, representatives are to be elected who would be included in the
corresponding functional committees. The Chairpersons of the representative committees,
the ward members of the GP and the Sarpanch should participate in the process of election,
which would be conducted by way of showing hands or by secret balloting.
The GBOs and the Mandal Parishad (Middle Tier)
Institutional and Functional Linkages :
As of now, there are no Standing or Functional Committees at the Mandal. It is
necessary to create committees at the MP on lines more or less similarto the ones prescribed
at the ZP.
Finance and Works.
251
Paochayatl Raj lostltytions and Paraflel Bodies in Andhra Pradesh :
3. Agriculture.
4. Women and Social welfare.
5. Education and Medical Services.
Formatlori of the Committees at the Mandal :
* Not less than three and not more than five MPTCs (Mandal Parishad Territorial
Constituencies) to from one committee.
* One member cannot be a member of more than three committees.
* The MPTCs to hold office for a period of five years or for so long as they continue to
be members.
The CBOs and the Zilla Parishad
The representation from the CBOs is to be done on similar lines as that of the MP.
The election/selection of ZPTC’s etc are all described ir. the PR Act. The Chairperson of the
ZP now heads four of the Standing Committees, this should be reduced to two. -Planning
and Finance Works. The fee allowance, etc are already in vogue and can be followed by
adding on representation of the CBOs.
Linkage of functionaries ; The Project Directors of different projects should be
accountable to the Chief Executive Officer of ZP. This should be possible under the proposed
structure of placing an officer of the IAS cadre as the CEO.
The Standing Committees at the ZP should be into policy making and advisory roles.
Also, revise the performance of the Standing Committee of the MP and the functional
Committees of the GP. The Standing Committee of the MP should be into monitoring and
also implementation.
The Standing Committees at the Mandal can perform the role of (a) monitoring and
(b) arbitration. Monitoring can not only be regulatory also if incentive, encouraging the CBOs
to perform better by arranging for monetary incentive, the Committees at the MP arbitrate
when there is dispute between different GPs due to overlapping of function and jurisdiction
(watershed area). The functional Committee of the GP should be into planning and
implementation, for those activities at the MP that also involves implementation, the fund
release options similar to the one’s described for the GP can be followed.
The Indian Journal of Political Science
The interlinkage between the committees of the three tiers ;
(i) Agl. & allied activities Agriculture
(ii) Education
(iii) Poverty alleviation
Ed and Medical Services-
Rural development
(vi) Public Health and Sanitation •
(vii) Planning and Finance Planning and Finance-
Agriculture
>Ed & Medical services
Rural development
(iv) Women & Child Welfare \Npmen & Social Welfare Women Welfare
(v) Environmental protection — '
--Planning and Finance
Social Welfare
Source: S. Sitaram, Report Submitted to SERF Govt of Andhra Pradesh, 2002.
Establishing a system through which Self Help Groups (CBOs) and PRls interface
effectively, is eminently possible because by nature and mandate both these institutions
have the same objective, viz., of ushering people centred development (Report of the Task
Force Committee, 2002), improved governance, greater accountability and transparency
together with the convergence and better coordination is also critical to the realization of
objectives in the area of poverty reduction and social development.
These self help groups, however, interface with large number of government and elected
institutions at the grassroots level, particularly PRls. The efficiency of these self-help groups
(SHGs) would be considerably enhanced if a symbiosis could be worked out between SHGs
and PRls. The key to this Is to integrate these existing groups with the empowered panchayats
when the requisite devolution of powers, functions and authority to them takes places (Task
Force Report, 2002).
The Model Suggested by Task Force is as Follows ;
Andhra Pradesh Panchayati Raj Act, 1994, provides for six functional standing
committees at the gram panchayat (GP) level. The seven to ten self help groups operating
at the village level also represent more or less the same or similar types of activities. The
gram sabhas shall coopt one or more representatives of the SHGs into the respective standing
committees of the gram Panchayat. For instance, members of the village education committee
will be coopted as members of the standing committee on education at the gram Panchayat
level. From amongst the coopted members on the standing committees on education in aii
Panchayati Raj Institutions and Parallel Bodies in Andhra Pradesh : 253
the gram panchayats, in a mandal, the mandal Panchayat will coopt in an open meeting of
the mandal panchayat samiti, a member/members onto the standing committee on education
of the mandal Panchayat. The zilla parishad in turn will coopt, in an open meeting of the zilla
parishad from amongst the coopted members of standing committees on education of all
the mandal panchayats in the district. The mechanism for selecting members in the other
standing committees from the SHGs will be similar, starting from the gram Panchayat level
to the zilla parishad level”.
Diagrammatic Representation of the Proposed Relationship between Self Help Groups and
Panchayati Raj institutions in Andhra Pradesh
The Indian Journal of Political Science
St.s = Standing Committees
2S4
SHGs = Self Help Groups
MSt.Cs = Mandal Level Standing Committees
ZSt. Cs = Zilla Parishad Level Standing Committees
Source; Draft -Report of the Task Force Committee on Convergence of Programmes by
Empowering the Self-Help groups and Panchayati Raj Institutions
The success of the benefits flowing from attaining the symbiosis between SHGs and
PRIs will depend to a targe on three things:
a) Strengthening of the PR institutions themselves.
b) Bringing convergence of development programmes and institutions being implemented
in the state by different agencies and line departments.
c) Building the capacity of the Self-Help groups.
Paticliayati Raj iostitytioos and Parallel Bodies in Andhra Pradesh :
Proposed Model of Synergy between PRis and CBOs
255
The Indian Journal of Political Science
256
The above proposed Model calls for rationale and justification in analytical terms.
The functions/items enshrined in the 1 1 th Schedule of the constitution can be broadly divided
into three major areas/activities namely, Core/Basic Functions, Welfare Functions and
National Resource Management (NRM) Functions. Here our approach is ‘bottom-up’, as
most by of these activities currently carried out at the village level mainly by CBOs. Besides
it is presumed that given the capacity of PRIs, their involvement in the activities would be
different from one function to another. This not only addresses the issue of over burdening
the PRIs but also negates the arguments regarding lack of capacity with PRIs.
The Core/basic functions such as drinking water supply, health, sanitation including
primary health centres and dispensaries, education including primary and secondary, roads,
bridges and other amenities, etc, are the functions PRIs have been given mandate from its
inception. The CBOs handling such activities such as Education Committees, Health
Committees which are going to be integrated into the standing committees of PRIs are late
entries in this arena of operation. In this scenario. PRIs given its long experience in handling
these schemes would be the dominant bodies in terms of planning, implementation and
monitoring of these functions. Members of the CBOs representing Standing Committees will
act as pressure groups for efficient implementation and equitable distribution of the benefits.
The second arena of the discharging welfare functions such as poverty alleviation
programmes, women and child development, social welfare of weaker sections such as SC/
ST and physically challenged persons and other functions (Rural Housing and Managing
Public Distribution System) require that PRIs take slightly higher responsibility, of course,
working in tandem with CBOs looking after some of these functions. Mention may be made
of DPIP (Velugu) SHGs, Mothers Committees and Disabled Groups etc. In this scenario,
medium interface between PRIs and CBOs is desirable.
In the third arena i.e., Natural Resource Management (NRM) activities such as water,
watersheds, forests, agriculture etc, PRIs interface with CBOs is expected to be low which
means that CBOs that are formed to manage water resource such as Watershed Committees
(WCs) and Water Users Associations (WUAs) and forest resources (VSS/FPCS) need to
be given larger role as they are found very effective in managing such resources. Most of the
functions require technical skills and deep knowledge of the management of the resource.
These CBOs formed around such resources found to have high stakes and PRIs which are
governance institutions are found wanting in handling such resources and their capacities
are found inadequate. At the most, PRIs can be monitoring institutions where by accountability
of the CBOs can be ensured to the constitutionally elected bodies, in this arena of managing
NRM activities low interface between PRIs and CBOs is envisaged. In NRM arena PRIs can
function mainly as watch dog.
Panchayati Raj Institutions and Parallel Bodies in Andhra Pradesh : 257
The picture which is visualised at village level may be replicated at mandal and district
levels. At district level apex agencies such as District Water Management Agencies (DWMA)
looking after watersheds and District Rural Development Agencies (DRDA), District Forest
Agency and Drinking Water and Sanitation bodies (looking after Swajaladhra Programs that
IS in the offing) need to be synergised with varying degrees of responsibilities with zilla
parishads. Thus, the bottom-up approach of the planning process synergising PRIs and
CBOs is complete.
Conclusion :
The working of PR Institutions In tandem with Community Based Organisations/Parallel
Institutions is a hard reality. Even through the primacy of PR institutions in the decentralised
governance is emphasised as per the 73rd Constitutional Amendment Act, the role of the
parallel institutions can not be undermined in overall development of the village and local
development.
A synergy or symbiosis of PRIs and Parallel institutions is the need of the hour. Most
of the conflicts can be avoided between these set of institutions if a workable model is
arranged in each of the State looking at the strengths and weakness of these institutions. It
is in this context that AP model linking PRIs and CBOs in a holistic framework appears well
thought over policy measure. It is unfortunate this model of synergy is not put into practice.
Proposed model suggests that various functions enshrined in the 11th Schedule can
be broadly divided into three major activities namely Core/Basic functions, Welfare functions
and Natural Resource Management (NRM) functions. PRIs given its long experience In
handling these schemes would be ideal institutions to plan, implement and monitor these
functions and the members of the CBOs representing standing committees will act as pressure
groups for better functioning of these functions. In discharging welfare functions such as
poverty alleviation programmes, social welfare of weaker sections it is proposed that PRIs
take slightly higher responsibility, of course, working in tandem with CBOs looking after
some of the these functions. Lastly, PRIs interface with CBOs in the NRM arena is expected
to be low which allows CBOs to play bigger role as they are found very effective and in this
arena PRIs can play monitoring and watchdog functions.
The above model of synergy in A.P between PRIs and CBOs go long way in making
bottom - up planning process a meaningful exercise.
The indlan Joyrnal of Political Science
References :
258
1 . Bandhyopadhyay, D et ai (2002): ‘Convergence of Programmes by Empowering SHGs
and PRIs’, Economic and Political Weekly, June 29.
2. Government of Andhra Pradesh (2002), Report of the Task Force Committee on
Convergence of Programmes By Empowering Self Help Groups (SHGs) and
Panchayati Raj Institutions, Hyderabad.
3. Government of India (1 999): Mid Term Appraisal of the Ninth Five Year Plan, Planning
Commission, New Delhi.
4. Sitaram, S (2000): 'Decentralisation in Andhra Pradesh’ (Draft) World Bank Working
Paper, New Delhi.
5. Sitaram, Shashikala (2002): ‘Interface of PRIs and Community Based Organisations
in AP’, Rural Poverty Reduction Project, Report Submitted to Society For Elimination
of Rural Poverty (SERP), Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh.
6. Sivanna, N and M. Gopinath Reddy (2005): ‘Panchayats and Watershed Development;
An Assessment of Institutional Capacity, Collaborative Research under S!=tTT
Endowment Grant, ISEC, Bangalore.
7. Reddy, Gopinath. M, ‘Status of Decentralised Local Bodies: Post - 73rd Amendment
Scenario’, Economic And Political weekly, Vol.12 and 13, March 22-29, 2003.
8. Videh Upadhya (2005), “Pancchayats, Water User Groups and Law in India: with
specific studies on participatory irrigation management, rural water supply, and
watershed development”, CSLG Working Paper Series (CSLG/WP/05-06), Centre
for the Study of Law & Governance, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi.
The Indian Journal of Political Science
Vo!. LXVll!, No. 2, Apr.-June, 2007
INDIA'S RESPONSE TO GLOBALISATION :
A PERCEPTIBLE SHIFT IN ECONOII/IIC, POLITICAL AND
ADyiNISTRATIVE POLICIES
Smita Srivasia^a
The changes in national and international scenario compelled India to rethink its
policies in the 1990s. It became quite evident that a shift in the policies is urgently
required to meet the challenges thrown up by Globalisation. India not only introduced
several economic reforms like liberalization, dismantling of trade barriers, d@*
regulation, privatization, but also brought about many changes in its political and
administrative policies. Steps were taken towards de-centralization, creating new
departments in the ministries, right to infonnation, e- governance etc. Some of these
measures have borne some fruit. On the one hand, India's economy has registered a
high rate of growth, foreign exchange reserve has increased to S 165 billion, it has
become an investment and outsourcing destination, and witnessed an IT revolution
but on the other hand, 27.81 % population is below poverty line and India's performance
in human resource development is dismal. The challenge before the policy makers is
to frame such policies which beget for India optimal benefits not only in terms of high
economic growth but also in terms of providing a good and decent life to Its teeming
millions who are deprived of elementary and bare necessities.
One of the most vigorously debated topics today is 'globalisation*. Its impact has been
more far-reaching than imagined. The era of globalisation Is opening up many opportunities for
millions of people around the world. As tariff and other barriers among countries are getting
lowered, trade is expanding, transport and communication costs fall, and technologically
advanced enterprises move to different locations, globalisation is turning the whole world into
a common village. But globalisation also poses serious risks to countries, which are unable to
reform their own markets and become internationally competitive. Notwithstanding the risks
and challenges flowing from globalisation, no single country, or even a group of countries even
if they act together would be able to arrest the march of liberalisation and globalisation.
Globalisation has special importance for developing countries, which can make best use of It
by their prudent public policy formulations.
Scholars define the term according to their perceptions and it has been observed that
the economic connotation of the term has taken precedence over its several other aspects.
In this paper an attempt has been made not only to explain the term 'globalisation' but
also to discuss its impact on India's economic as well as political and administrative policies
and also to suggest how India can avail this phenomenon to solve its various problems and
upgrade its position in the globe.
Generally by the term globalization is meant a process where there is a free flow of
information, trade, ideas, people, labour and culture across the globe, it is an umbrella term
for a complex series of economic, social, technological, cultural and political changes seen
as increasing interdependence, integration and interaction among people and companies in
The Indian Journal of Political Science
disparate locations.
260
A perusal of sorrip of the best known definitions of the term would make this evident.
According to J,^iseman 'Globalisation is the most slippery, dangerous and important buzzword
of the late twentieth century. It Is slippery because it can have many meanings and be used in
many ways. It is dangerous because too often it is used as a powerful and simplistic justification
for the endless expansion of unregulated capitalist relations into every part of life in every
comer of the globe. It is important because debates about globalisation can illuminate a world
in which time and space have been so dramatically compressed that distant actions in one
comer of the globe have rapid and significant repercussions on people and places far away,'^
In Modelski's perception, globalisation is a process along four dimensions: economic
globalisation, formation of world opinion, democratisation, and political globalisation. This was
rounded off with the assertion that changes along one of these dimensions (such as economic
globalisation) elicited changes among the other dimensions.^
According toTehranian, Globalisation is a process that has been going on for the past
5000 years, but it has significantly accelerated since the demise of the Soviet Union in 1 991 .
Elements of globalisation include transborder capital, labour, management, news, images,
and dataflows. The main engines of globalisation are the transnational corporations (TNCs),
transnational media organisations (TMCs), intergovernmental organisations (IGOs), non-
governmental organisations (NGOs), and alternative government organisations (AGOs). From
a humanist perspective, globalisation entails both positive and negative consequences: it is
both narrowing and widening the income gaps among and within nations, intensifying and
diminishing political domination, and homogenizing and pluralizing buzzword cultural identities.^
In my point of view, to determine the meaning of globalisation in order to study the
Impact of globalisation on public policy formulation, a narrow perspective definition from a
single view can not describe or analyse the impact of globalisation on public policy formulation
comprehensively.
Therefore, in this work, the meaning of globalisation will cover all the above-mentioned
aspects, whether economic, political, sociological, communicative and geographical.
Causes of Globalisation
Princeton historian Harold James suggests that most people tend to confuse the cause
of globalisation with its effects. International openness, he says, did not lead to the spread of
technology. Rather, it was "technical changes and efficiencies of scale that have made purely
national markets relatively inefficient," thereby compelling business to spread across borders.^
There have been a number of reasons for the onset of Globalization. They are interrelated
also. One thing led to another and so on. Some of the responsible factors are as follows :
Iiidia's Response to Globalisation
Travel Technology:. ■
261
Lloyd Geering suggests that technology is perhaps the most obvious cause of
globalisation, particularly the technology that so rapidly advanced travel and communication
cross geographical and ethnic barriers that it led to the death of distance.
Migration
From the sixteenth century onwards, and particularly in the nineteenth century, ocean
travelled to the European colonisation of the Americas, Africa and Oceania. This enabled the
European nations to export their surplus population and thus began the global intermingling of
races that has continued ever since.
Communication Technology
New technology made another huge contribution to globalisation by intensifying the
communication of news, the spread of ideas and the transfer of information
The last two decades have witnessed the introduction of the internet, offering a new
way of sending information almost instantaneously around the world. Electronic mail via the
internet provides fast and cheap personal intercommunication on a global scale.
End of Coid War
The cold war between the two super powers ended with the dismemberment of Soviet
Union. The policy of iron curtain and bamboo curtain became obsolete and emphasis was laid
on openness and free flow of information.
Interaction between Economic and Political Development
However, many claim that the interaction between economic and political development
is the main cause of globalisation. Politics and economy some of the most basic forces in
globalisation are the combination of political choices that make countries more open and
integrated, and new economic opportunities for the flow of goods, services, capital and
information between countries.v Kurt M. Campbell suggested that greater transparency for
movements of money, people, and products could well advance the cause of globalisation.®
Tourism
Tourism is one area in particular that embodies the concepts of globalisation. It is both
a cause of globalisation, as it increases the connectivity of people and places, as well as an
effect of globalisation, as it is enhanced by greater access to information and improved
transportation International and regional organizations
There has been a remarkable institutionalisation of intergovernmental and transnational
networks of political interaction. This is expressed in, among other things, the establishment
Tile Indian tJournai of Political Science
262
of formal organisations, such as UN and Greenpeace, and more informal bodies, such as
regular contacts between the central bankers of the world's most powerful states and the
existence of transnational drug cartels. To this can be added, the growth of new centres of
authority above, below and alongside the state, for instance, the World Trade Organisation
(WTO), the ED and foreign multinational corporations.
Recognition of global nature of several problems:
it was realised that many problems faced by the world like terrorism, pollution, drugs,
and Aids could only be solved by concerted efforts of all the countries.
India's Response to Globalisation
At the dawn of independence, India started on a journey of economic development, with
the twin principles of democracy and socialism. India's public policymakers, many early post-
independence leaders, such as Jawaharlal Nehru, the first prime minister of the country were
influenced by socialist ideas and advocated government intervention to guide the economy,
including state ownership of key industries.
The objective was to achieve high and balanced economic development in the genera!
interest while particular programs and measures helped the poor. India's leaders also believed
that industrialisation was the key to economic development. This belief was all the more
convincing in India because of the country's large size, substantial natural resources, and the
desire to develop its own defence industries.
The Industrial Policy Resolution of 1 948 gave government a monopoly in armaments,
atomic energy, and railroads, and exclusive rights to develop minerals, aircraft manufacturing,
shipbuilding, and manufacturing of telephone and telegraph equipment The Industrial Policy
Resolution of 1 956 greatly extended the preserve of government As a result, the private sector
was relegated primarily to production of consumer goods. The public sector also expanded
more In services. In 1 956 the life Insurance business was nationalised, and in 1 973 the general
Insurance business was also acquired by the public sector. Most large commercial banks
were nationalised In 1969.
Export growth was long Ignored. Controls were usually imposed to correct specific
problems but often without adequate consideration of their effect on other parts of the economy.
For example, the government set low prices for basic foods, transportation, and other
commodities and services, a policy designed to protect the living standards of the poor.
However, the policy proved counterproductive when the government also limited the output of
needed goods and services. Price ceilings were implemented during shortages, but the ceiling
trequently contributed to black markets in those commodities and to tax evasion by black-
market participants. Import controls and tariff policy stimulated local manufacturers toward
production of import-substitution goods, but under conditions devoid of sufficient competition
inclia's Response to Globalisation
or pressure to be efficient.
263
Performance of the Indian economy during 1947-1991 has been summarized thus,
"Growth had been inadequate: poverty, hunger, and illiteracy persisted amid abundant food
stocks; much of industry remained internationally non-competitive and required import of
technology; and the public sector did not generate significant surplus and remained inefficient"^
Therefore, it seems that socialist democracy has not been able to achieve economic
development goal and was not suitable for the globalisation era. Moreover, we have been
witnessing, trom the 1 970s onward, the collapse of both fascism and communism. In Spain,
fascism slowly eroded and then suddenly gave way to legal-parliamentary government and
common-market capitalism.®
And after the collapse of Communism in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union, it has
become common wisdom that democracy requires capitalism-that is, an economic system
where private owners of major means of wealth production (industry, natural resources, finance
capital, means of distribution) are presumptively tree to dispose of these assets and the
profits obtained in their use as they wish.ixThus capitalism and legal-representative democracy
have become the main line of historical development.^®
Opened Up India
Indira Gandhi returned to power in the general election of early 1980 with the slogan
"government that works" and initiated some measures of economic liberalisation. That brought
about some positive results.xiFollowing her assassination in 1984, Rajiv Gandhi succeeded
her in office. He carried the process of economic liberalisation further.
As described by Desai "Rajiv Gandhi accelerated both the borrowing and the opening
up of the economy, instituting a policy of import liberalisation and industry deregulation. The
exchange rate was actively manipulated to depreciate the rupee and thereby encourage exports"
The Crisis of 1991 and the Need to Reforms
In the late 1 980s, India relied on foreign borrowing to finance development plans to a
greater extent than before. As a result, when the price of oil rose sharply in August 1 990 due
to Iraq invasion of Kuwait, the nation faced a balance of payments crisiS.xii In addition, many
Indian workers residing in Persian Gulf states either lost their jobs or returned home out of fear
for their safety, thus reducing the flow of remittances. The direct economic impact of the
Persian Gulf conflict was exacerbated by domestic social and political developments. In the
early 1990s, there was violence over two domestic issues: the reservation of a proportion of
public-sector jobs for members of Backward Castes and the Hindu-Muslim conflict due to
demolition of Babri Masjid. The central government had fallen in November 1 990 and was
succeeded by a minority government. The cumulative impact of these events shook international
confidence in India's economic viability, and the country found It increasingly difficult to borrow
264
The Iridian Journal of Political Science
internationally. As a result, India made various agreements with the International Monetary
Fund (IMF) and other organisations that included commitments to speed up liberalisation.
India's Globalisation Policies
Since their was a rapid erosion of foreign exchange reserves in 1 991 , the Government
had to mortgage and sell its stock of gold deposited in Zurich and London banks. A new
minority government headed by Shri Narsimha Rao had to tackle the problem. He appointed
Dr. Manmohan Singh at i economist as his finance minister. The latter approached the World
Bank and the IMF for help. They were prepared to extend help provided the Government of
India abandoned its forty year old policy of planning seif- reliance and state control which in
the judgment of these two institutions was responsible for stifling the springs of economic
enterprise and making Indian economy high cost, low in quality and technologically backward.
They wanted India to accept SAP- stru~tural adjustment programme. This was the very
programme which the two institutions had pushed in many Latin American, African and Asian
countries. In June 1 991 , the initiation of major economic policies or reforms were introduced
by the government of Mr. Narasimha Rao through the finance minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh.
The Indian economy had undergone a remarkable transition. The objective of the reforms was
to make the Indian economy grow quickly. The crisis induced a more systematic approach to
globalisation policy. These policies involved :
# Removing restrictions on current payments and transfers to make the current account
convertible, in accordance with article 8 of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) articles
of agreement.
4 Liberalising underlying current account transactions-particularly dismantling tariff and
non-tariff trade barriers.
• Switching to a market-determined exchange rate-which, along with comfortable foreign
exchange reserves, provided key "self-insurance" against globalisation shocks.
• Prudently managing the capital account to ensure a shift in capital inflows in favour of
longer maturity debt and non-debt flows.
# Adopting a cautious, calibrated approach to capital account convertibility.
Moreover, measures ensuring a sound macroeconomic environment, a strong and
resilient financial system, and above all an increased market orientation of the domestic
economy greatly influenced the course of globalisation in terms of content, timing, and
sequencing.’'^
Indian Economy towards the Path of Liberalisation
The process of liberalisation increased after 1 991 . By the mid-1 990s, the number of
sectors reserved for public ownership was slashed, and private-sector investment was
India's Response to Globalisation
265
encouraged in areas such as energy, steel, oil refining and exploration, road building, air
transportation, and telecommunications. An area still closed to the private sector in the mid-
1 990s was defence industry. Foreign-exchange regulations were liberalised, foreign investment
was encouraged, and import regulations were simplified. The average import-weighted tariff
was reduced from 87 percent in FY 1 991 to 33 percent in FY 1 994. Despite these changes,
the economy remained highly regulated by international standard. Post-liberalisation, India's
international trade has become broad based and gone up. India's major trading partners are
China, United States, UAE, UK, Japan and the European Union."*^
Flow of FDl
FDI in India grew over the decade by a multiple of 1 5, albeit from a very low average in
the late 1 980s largely owing to the gradual opening and flow of FDI to India, where the average
annual flow stood at $2.7 billion in the late 1 990s.‘'^
Non-resident Indians as a Force of Globalisation
Cross-border movement of labour has generally been limited by the very restrictive
immigration policies of industrial countries.
Figure 2.5 Contributions by non-resident Indians, 1 990-2001
Billions of U.S. dollars
Source: G-20 Secretariat's report (2003)
The Indian Journal of Political Science
266
Despite the restrictive international regime for labour mobility, non-resident Indians-
both skilled and unskilled-have taken advantage of the limited scope for migration and with
their committed work in foreign countries provided a strong channel of connectivity between
the Indian economy and the global economy.
Globalisation through Trade in Services
Trade in services, though growing, still lags significantly behind merchandise experts.
Exports of services as a percentage of merchandise exports, however, showed a significant
increase in the second half of the 1 990s. At 42 percent in 2000-01 , this share is one of the
highest in the world, particularly in relation to about 1 0-20 percent for China and the Far East,
Germany, Japan, Mexico, Russia, South Africa, and even about 26 percent for the United
Kingdom and the United States. Th's suggests that even though India's degree of trade
integration with the global economy is not very high, services exports seem to be of much
greater importance in recent years in relation to the world average. Unlike China, the Republic
of Korea, Mexico, Poland, Russia, South Africa, and Thailand, where tourism and transportation
services account for the major share of services exports, in India other services account for
the larger share. This makes India's pattern of services exports akin to that in advanced
countries like Germany, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States and some developing
countries like Brazil, Malaysia, and Turkey.''®
India's Software Boom-the Most Visible Benefit ofGIobalisation
India's strong performance on the software front was largely facilitated by the globalisation
process. In the second half of the 1 990s software exports exhibited compound average growth
of 62.3 percent, as against 46,8 percent growth in domestic market sales, in U.S. dollar terms
software exports registered average annual growth of 46.1 percent during the entire 1990s.
This rate of growth has been unprecedented both in terms of overall growth and growth
in exports. In 2000-01 software exports hit a peak of $6.3 billion
The Indian government in 2005 liberalised investment in the civil aviation, telecom, and
construction sectors. Privatisation of government-owned industries essentially came to a halt
in 2005, and continues to generate political debate; continued social, political, and economic
rigidities hold back needed initiatives. The economy has posted an average growth rate of
more than 7% in the decade since 1 994, reducing poverty by about 1 0 percentage points.''^
In the 21 st century, there has been a dramatic shift in India's approach to external
sector management in keeping with the changing circumstances. The main contributors to
the positive outcome in India's current account are workers' remittances and export of software,
both being a result of the process of global integration. The exchange rate regime as well as
external debt management has served India well, especially the avoidance of sovereign debt
through commercial borrowings. The new policy regime helped India withstand several global
267
India's Response to Globalisation
crises while maintaining a respectable growth. The capital account has acquired the primary
focus rather than the current account. A judicious integration with the global trade regime has
imparted some competitive efficiency and confidence to the domestic industry and perhaps,
even to commercial agriculture though to a limited extent. It has become evident that the
management of the external sector is closely linked to the domestic sector and the major
thrust of Indian public policy is now on managing the integration
A Powerful New Player in the Global Economy
At present, the economy of India is the fourth largest in the world as' measured by
purchasing power parity (PPP), with a gross domestic product (GDP) of US $3.63 trillion.
When measured in USD exchange rate terms, it is the twelfth largest in the world, with a GDP
of US $ 775 billion (2005). India was the second fastest growing major economy in the world,
with a GDP growth rate of 8.1 % at the end of the first quarter of 2005-2006 significantly
expanding manufacturing.
This captivating pattern of growth has been shaping a new global economic geography.
India, with billion plus people, has emerged as a significant player in the global economy as
well as in the global politics.
Globa! Trends in Indian Politics and Administration
Since the 1980s, there has been a shift in the conventional main stream of public
sector management from T raditional Bureaucratic Administration into Managerialism.
With respect to this new paradigm, the public sector management theory, the so-
called ‘Market-Based Public Administration' emerged in 1 992. This approach, later termed as
Entrepreneurial Government by Osborne and Gaebler (1 993), emphasises the entrepreneurial
roles in public sector management and is fundamentally guided by market mechanisms.
Besides an attempt to achieve outcomes, the Entrepreneurial Government also aims to improve
efficiency, effectiveness, service quality and management for change.
Globalisation Process and Good Governance
According to this new paradigm, there are three major actors in governance, namely :
government, civil society, and business society. Thus, "good governance" involves these three
actors with their respective functions.
To achieve good governance, some requirements, as summed up in the "good
government quality index," need to be met. They are :
(1 ) Societal participation index which represents political stability and the freedom of speech
(2) Governance orientation index derived from the indicators of efficiency in justice and
efficient and corruption-free bureaucracy.
The Indian Journal of Political Science
268
I
(3) Social development index indicated by human development and distribution of income.
(4) Economic management index indicated by world market orientation, independent central
bank, and ratio of debt to GNP.
Based on these four indices, some Asian countries can be grouped into three categories
in terms of their governance quality: "GOOD", "MODERATE" and "POOR" as shown in
Tablet.^®
No.
Country
Quality Index
Governance Quality
1
Singapore
65
2
Japan
63
GOOD
3
Malaysia
58
4
South Korea
57
5
Sri Lanka
45
6
The Phiullippines
44
MODERATE
7
India
43
8
Thailand
43
9
China
39
10
Indonesia
38
POOR
11
Nepal
36
12
Pakistan
34
The figure in Table 1 shows that India has "moderate governance." Therefore, India
needs to improve to compete with other countries. A fundamental change would be needed in
order to achieve a governmental bureaucracy that is free from corruption, sin-ecurism and
nepotism. India ranked a dismal 124th in Human Resource Development according to World
Bank report 2005. In the Corruption Perception Index for the year 2004, India was ranked 90 in
a group of 146 countries according to the report of Transparency International in 2004. xix.
Indeed democratic institutions cannot perform their role adequately if the actions of political
leaders, civil servants, police officers, judges and others can be mobilized in defence of private
and specified interests through illegal inducements.^®
The demands of civil society organisations for better social services have spurred the
government to launch campaigns to increase literacy and improve public infrastructure. And
their calls for greater accountability and real decentralisation of power are increasing the
likelihood that expenditures for poverty reduction will reach the needy.^^ The government
faces three major challenges in redressing poverty: first, to expand economic opportunities;
second, to ensure that the poor are empowered to take advantage of new opportunities in a
rapidly changing world; and third, to ensure that an effective safety net is in place to reduce
vulnerability and protect the very poor and destitute.^^
India's Response to Globalisation
Administrative Reforms in India
269
Since the beginning of new economic system in 1 991 the basic strategy of administrative
reforms has been decentralisation of developmental decision-centres and activities, creation
of trade organisations in service and business sector, privatisation of non-essential and consumer
services, participation of private sector in commercial and business administration, establishment
of independent authorities to regulate commercial and business contracts and agreements in
government seivices, abolition of inspectors system, abolition of bureaucratic obstacles and
bottlenecks, more transparency in government decisions, activities and contracts, grant of
rightto information, simplification of laws, rules and regulations, deconcentration of administrative
structures, downsizing the staff, involvement of technology in office management more
specifically computerisation of procedures, records and correspondence, and minimising the
chances of corruption in administration, avoiding legal battles, abolition of unnecessary
administrative organisations, tax and tariff reforms and redesigning the economic organisations
and institutions, etc.
In this reform strategy, major emphasis was laid down on policy formulation and
framework. Policy choices and alternatives were not evolved. Policy making centres are
confmed to administrative officials. People participation and specialised and professional
organisations are being still ignored or not prioritized. Imbalance between the regulatory and
developmental role of administration is also an area of policy evaluation in the study of new
economic policy and administrative reforms. In these reforms, internationally competitive
government organisations to protect the interest and property rights of the country were not
seriously cpnsidered. Publicity of reforms at the international level was also ignored. T raining
was not properly catered to bring attitudinal and orientational changes in the administrative
system.^^
In evolving the policy framework, the major emphasis was put on the development of
infrastructure sector with the collaboration of private and foreign investors in order to generate
more employment and to reduce the number of below poverty line people. Joint ventures were
promoted in core and consumer items and the investors were motivated to initiate in the
market economy. These policy frameworks have provided a set of directives to the administrative
officials to act on the thrust of such policies. Necessary amendments / modifications are
made in several laws, rules and regulations to abolish bureaucratic discretion, obstacles,
delays, red tapism, problems, etc. Further, policy reforms were also introduced to provide a
suitable environment for development.
Establishment of New Administrative Organisations
To implement several policies, a major reshuffle was carried out in the Union Government
Ministries / Departments as well as some new organisations were also created. However the
Ministry of Finance, Home Affairs, Commerce, Education, Personnel, Pension and
The Indian Journal of Political Science
270
Administrative Reforms, Civil Aviation, Transport, Environment, etc. were redesigned to suit
the needs of the new economic system. Some of the administrative positions were abolished,
redesigned or renamed to cut down the size of ministries and bring efficiency and effectiveness
in administrative operations and activities Some of the ministries have also been reoriented for
privatisation and foreign collaboration or joint ventures like Civil Aviation, Telecommunication,
Broadcasting, Power (electricity) etc. in some of the ministries, new administrative organisations
and institutions were created ego in the Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Commerce and
Industry following institutions were added;
Ministry of Finance
a. LokPal (Ombudsman) of India
b. Export Processing Zones Council
c. Foreign Direct Investment Board
Ministry of Commerce and Industry
a. Over the Counter Agreements
b. Single Window License System for Export
c. Export - Incentives System
d. Patents Review Board
e. Intellectual Property Rights Protection Board
f. Monopolies Restricted T rade Practices Commission (MRTPC)
g. T rade and Tariff Review Council
Deregulation
In the new system of the country, government has tried to deregulate some of the core
and consumer areas where government regulation was creating obstacles in the development
of industry like deregulation of cement, non-petroleum products, sugar, steel, milk-products,
liquor, gold-silver, electronics, computer software, telecommunication equipments, paper, edible
oils, soaps, cosmetic prices. Government is also inclined to deregulate those areas where
healthy competition can bring efficiency and foster development tike Bank interest rates, non-
banking companies, environment friendly companies, higher educational institutions more
particular foreign universities, foreign exchange, full convertibility of Indian Rupee in Current
account, media-foreign newspapers publication in India, Insurance (40% deregulation proposed)
Sector, etc. Although government is prepared to deregulate more sectors of economy, there
are three major problems to deregulate rapidly: - a) poor masses and unaware consumer; b)
lack of technology in marketing and c) large size of staff, keeping these problems in mind, the
ftidia's Response to Gfobaifsatfon 271 '
Government is deregulating the sectors on priority basis.
Decentrafisatson
In a centrally planned economy, decentralisation is a big problem both politically and
administratively. A major step was initiated in 1 993 - 94 to create a third tier of Indian federation
by constitutional amendments. It has brought drastic changes in the Indian urban and rural
local governments.xxiV These governments were empowered with constitutional rights, duties,
and resources and finances. One third seats in the local governments are reserved for women.
It is heartening to note that of the thirty lakhs elected representatives ten lakhs are women.
Ensuring the Use of Modern Technology
Communication technologies are being provided even at the village-level official machinery
in order to link up the whole administration in a national network. More emphasis is laid on
remote and hilly town to link them up with the district and state administration
Ensuring Trust in the Civil Services
To maintain standard of services, and to avoid these problems in the new economy,
government has activated its anti-corruption machinery like CBI, anti-corruption bureau and
state level ombudsman (Lokayukta) in state administration and also considering to establish
a national level Ombudsman (LokPal) to investigate such corruption charges. A National
Debate on Effective and Responsive Administration culminated in the Conference of Chief
Ministers that was held on 24th May 1 997. One of the areas that were to be addressed under
Accountable and Citizen Friendly Government was Citizen's Charters. Citizen's Charters are
expected to include vision and mission statement, details of business transacted by the
organization, clients' details, services provided to every client- group, grievance redress
mechanism and the way to get it and what is expected from the clients i.e. 'obligations of the
users.' The number of Citizen's Charters formulated till June 30,.2005 by Central Government
ministriesIDepartments Organisations is 108 and that by State Governments and Union
Territories is 629.xxV The Right to Information which came into force in October 2005 would
go a long way in making administration transparent and accountable.
Suggestions :
While openness to international financial flows brings important and long-lasting benefits,
it can raise the cost of bad macroeconomic and structural policies, weak institutions, and
political uncertainty. Opening to international capital flows needs to be closely monitored.
Careful sequencing is important to provide time to build domestic economic institutions and
prudential supervision. A great political challenge is for leaders to create a domestic climate
supportive of policies that will build wealth. Such reforms can be enacted in balanced, timely
policy packages that reduce the risk of crisis.
The Indian Journal of Political Science
272
Good social policies are also critical to meeting the economic challenges of globalisation.
Governments and the international community must work together to ensure the provision of
efficient and affordable programs that help with transitional impacts of change-as well as
those that provide the skills and knowledge for people and businesses to respond to the
rapidly changing demands of the global market.xxviVigilant public opinion can playa very
constructive role in the framing of policies helpful in meeting the challenges. If India has to
emulate China in market success, it is not adequate just to liberalize economic controls in the
way the Chinese have done, without creating the social opportunities that post reform China
inherited from the pre reform transformation. The reach of China's market rests on the solid
foundations of social changes that had occurred earlier and India cannot simply hope for that
reach, without making enabling social changes in education, health care, land reform etc- that
help make the market function in the way it has in China.^^
Reforms in infrastructures such as transport, power generation, and telecommunications
have particular potential to improve overall economic performance by lowering costs and thus
speeding the dividends from adaptation to global opportunities.
Good governance is needed to develop public administrative system at all levels of
society - in terms of the rule of law, democracy, human rights and social equity. It is essential
for a fair and productive process of globalization.
Policymakers must seek a globalisation with a social dimension which sustains human
values and enhances the well-being of people, in terms of their freedom, prosperity and security.
Globalisation is seen through the eyes of women and men in terms of the opportunity it
provides for decent work; for meeting their essential needs for food, water, health, education
and shelter and for a livable environment. Without such a social dimension, many will continue
to view globalisation as a new version of earlier forms of domination and exploitation.
References :
1 . Wiseman J., Global Nation; Australia and the Politics of Global is at ion, , Cambridge
University Press, (1 998), p. 1 .
2. Modelski, Quoted in Globalisation Key Concepts by Fred W. Riggs, <http://
www2.hawaii.edul-fredr/glotexts.htm# MODELSKI> (21 August 2005)
3. Tehranian, Quoted in Globalisation Key Concepts by Fred W. Riggs, <http://
www2.hawaii.edul~fredr/giotexts.htm#TEHRANIAN> (21 August 2005)
4. James, Harold, The cause of globalisation. The Manila Times, (Jan 28, 2003)
5. Monsen, H. Tor, Political and Economic External Conditions, Editor in Charge: Anne
Kath. Dahl I NTNU Norwegian University of Science and Technology <http;//www.ntnu.no/
giobai/tvers/poloekon_e.htm> (1 May 2003)
273
India's Response to Globalisation
6. Campbell, M. Kurt, Globalisation's First War The Washington Quarter!y-winter(2002) p
13., (Kurt M. Campbell is senior vice president at the Center for Strategic and Internationa!
Studies and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology)
7. Parikh, "Economy" in Marshall Bouton and Philip Oldenburg (ed.). India Briefing: A
Transformative Fifty Years, Aakar Publications, Delhi, (2003), p. 61
8. Glassman, M. Ronald, The New Middle Class and Democracy in Globa! Perspective,
St. Martin's Press, Inc., (1997), p. 1
9. Cunninggham, Democracy and Globalisation, in Richard Sand brook, ed.. Civilizing
Globalisation Buffalo; Sunny Press, (2003), p. 13.
10. Glassman" M. Ronald, The New Middle Class and Democracy In Global Perspective,
St. Martin's Press. Inc., (1997). p. 3
1 1 . Meghnad Desai, "Economic Reform; Stalled by Politics?" in India Briefing: Staying the
Course, ed. Philip Oldenburg New York; The Asia Society, and Armonk, NY; M.E.
Sharpe,(1995).
12. Deena Khatkate, "India on an Economic Reform Trajectory," in India Briefing: 1992,
eds. Leonard A. Gordon and Philip Oldenburg New York; The Asia Society and Boulder,
CO: Westview Press, (1992).
1 3. G-20 Secretariat's Report, Economic Reform In this Era of Globalisation, Editing, design,
and layout by Communications Development Incorporated, Washington, D.C., (2003),
p.71
14. See India Trade, <http://www.photius.comlcountries/india/economy/india_economy-
trade.html>
1 5. United Nations, World Investment Directory, (2000), Volume VII: Asia and the Pacific.
16. Raipuria, Kalyan, "Service Exports; 'Knowledge Bowl' yet to Yield Major Gains."
Economic and Political Weekly, (1 Sep.2001).
17. See India in brief in CIA WORLD FACTBOOK, ,<http;//www.cia.gov/ciaIpublications/
factbook/geos/in.html> last updated on 29 March, 2006
1 8. Prijono Tjiptopherijanto, Globalisation and Good Governance, University ofindonesia,
Jakarta, 8 September 2006, pp. 1-3
19. KumarVivekinanarticle'Devoidof Merit', Times ofindia, April 27,2006.
20. Dreze Jean and Sen Amartya, India, Development and Participation, Oxford University
Press New Delhi, 2002, p 364
The Indian Journal of Political Science 274
21 . Datt, Gaurav and Martin Ravaliion. Is India's Economic Growth Leaving the Poor Behind?,
World Bank, 2002. mimeo,
22. Kozel, V., and B. Parker. 2003. A Diagnostic Profile of Poverty in Uttar Pradesh.
Economic and Political Weekly 37(4) (January 25-31 ): 385-403.
23. Saxena, Pradeep, Civil Service Reforms in India, EROPA Conference Paper, Public
Administration, University of R^jas tan, Jaipur, 2003, pp. 1 -5
24. Saxena, Pradeep" The Poor, Human Rights and Institutions", Politics, Administration
and Change (PAC) No. 28, July - December 1997, pp. 23-36.
25. Garg Preeti, in an article, "Citizen's Charter: A Step Towards Making Bureaucracy
Responsive and Responsible, "The Indian Jornal of Political Science, Vol. LXVIl, No.2Apri!-
June2006,p239
26. G-20 Secretariat's Report, Economic Reform in this Era of Globalisation, Editing, design,
and layout by Communications Development Incorporated, Washington, D.C., 2003, p.
27. Dreze Jean and Sen Amartya op cit. p 1 31
The Indian Journal of Political Science
Vol. LXVIll, No. 2, Apr.-June, 2007
FOREIGN POLICY POSITION OF BHARATIYA JANATA PARTY
TOWARDS ISSUES OF INDIA PAKISTAN RELATIONS
Sanjeev Kr. H.M.
In a modem liberal democracy, the role of political parties in the policy making process
is decisive. They provide institutional character to the articulated interests of the
citizens. Their policy involvement is fundamentally guided by the basic principles and
ideology in which the party is embedded. But the overarching impact of the party's
position in the political structure cannot be undermined. Not only the approach of a
party towards a policy matter is determined by the domestic political equations and the
prevailing international situation, but that approach is bound to change due to domestic
tumult, international turmoil and the party's varying position in the polity.
"There is an integral relationship between domestic politics and foreign affairs of a
country."^ Both spheres are inter-woven to each other. The domestic strength of aCountry
composes a sound economy, political stability and adequate space for people's participation
in policy processes. "A country which faces tunnoil in domestic politics cannot withstand the
turbulence of world politics."^
The position of a country in the ambit of international affairs hinges upon its domestic
strength. In the same way, the domestic sphere of a country is also considerably influenced
by the prevailing international situation. Several domestic variables deeply influence the country's
foreign policy. Prominently political structure, economic strength, public opinion, political
parties, mass media, leadership and the military strength playa significant role in this regard.
Hence a linkage between the domestic milieu and external environment of a polity is
conspicuous. James N. Rosenau indicates: "In order to facilitate the development of the
linkage theory we now expand the foregoing into a larger framework in which twenty four
aspects of politics that might serve as or give rise to outputs and inputs have been identified,
along with six aspects or from the polity p-rspective sub-environments of the international
system that might generate or receive output and input."^
Promotion of national interest is the underlying challenge for any country's foreign policy.
Political parties as institutional mechanisms of a liberal democracy constitute one of the
significant domestic factors dete~ining how foreign policy will accomplish this task. The
fundamental role of political parties lies in their indulgence in making policy prescription and
generating popular opinion on crucial policy matters. Arguably almost all modem governments
are party governments and policy makers are also members of political parties. Hence they
are guided by the electoral promises, programs, ideology and principles of the ruling party
while enacting the countries foreign policy. They are also influenced by domestic political
scenario, changing international situation, public opinion and opposition parties.
The opposition participates in the process of foreign policy making through debates,
discussions and asking questions in the parliament on significant issues pertaining to the
countries international affairs. The criticisms and comments of the opposition parties act as
The Indian Journal of Political Science
276
qualitative inputs for the foreign policy makers and will have a major bearing upon the nature of
foreign policy in future. For instance, the on going debate in India over the !ndo-U.S. civilian
nuclear deal among major political parties seems to have considerably influenced the shaping
of India's foreign policy towards the matter. The reflections of which might be seen in the
Prime Minister's statement in Rajya Sabha of 17 August 2006, indicating the Indian
Government's position on the deal. The statement was an attempt to obliterate all the doubts
of political parties regarding any unilateral endeavour on the part of the U.S. to revise the
provisions of the agreement to its own advantage through internal legislations.
Similarly when the country is confronted with a crisis situation, the ruling party attempts
to evolve consensus among all political parties so as to hold the nation together in such a
critical moment. The way in which the BJP led NDA Government firmly refused to send troops
to Iraq through a parliamentary resolution reflected the Government's success in evolving a
national consensus on a crucial foreign policy issue.ln this regard it can be inferred that
political parties playa vita! role in a modem liberal democracy, in determining the nature and
content of its foreign policy. They either in a single party Government or in a multi party
coalition, have a monumental role in determining the texture of the country's foreign policy.
Indo-Pakistan relations constitute a major component of India's foreign policy. The
nettled relationship between the two countries has constrained both governments to accord
top priority to issues of mutual concern. In India Indo-Pakistan relations has not only dragged
serious attention of the leadership, scholars, journalists and strategists but also it is a subject
of interest and concern for the common man.
Issues relating to India Pakistan relations figure prominently in the foreign policy position
of major Indian political parties. They being the institutional mechanisms of the Indian political
system have contributed significantly in dealing with the problems by which the relations of
the two sub-continental neighbours have been plagued. How political parties perceive the
problems of Indo-Pakistan relations determines the effectiveness of India to identify remedial
measures.
Hence it is pertinent to understand political party's perception and evaluation of the
issues of Indo-Pakistan relations. The present paper is an endeavour to understand foreign
policy position of the BJP towards Indo-Pakistan relations. Here the BJP has been selected
on the following grounds. At the outset it is a major national party having a vital role in determining
India's foreign policy towards Pakistan. Besides, the party led coalition Governments
consecutively for six years and presently it is acting as a major opposition party, in the period
of the BJP led regime, Indo-Pakistan relations was characterized by intense turmoil and it
witnessed rapid changes, Hence it is felicitous to analyse how the party visualizes the various
issues between the two countries.
Since inception the BJP, has been vociferous in articulating its views, on various issues
relating to India Pakistan relations. The genesis of BJP' s ideology and principles can be
Foreign Policy Position of BJP 277
traced to its parental link with the Bharaitya Jana Sangh. Since the first general election the
Jana Sangh had been a major opposition party playing a crucial role in determining India's
foreign policy towards Pakistan. Even during the short stint at the center as a part of Janata
government, the Jana Sangh played a vital role in the evolution of India's foreign policy towards
Pakistan. In this context the role of A.B. Vajpayee the then Jana Sangh leader as foreign
minister can be accented. His historic visit to Pakistan as Foreign Minister went a long way in
strengthening bilateral relations between the two countries.
In 1980, the Bharatiya Jana Sangh was transformed as the Bharatiya Janata Party.
Hence here it can be stated that, as the BJP has been carved out of J ana Sangh, an examination
of the views of Jana Sangh towards issues concerning Indo-Pakistan relation prior to that of
the BJP, appears to be a prerequisite.
Approach of the Bharaitya Jana Sangh towards Indo-Pakistan relations
The essence of Jana Sangh's approach towards Indo-Pakistan relations lies in the
critical standpoint it took on the then government's foreign policy particularly its policy towards
Pakistan. The party held the view that Indo-Pakistan relations must get top priority in the
nation's foreign policy. But the governments at the center were not giving proper heed to
significant issues concerning Indo-Pakistan relations, such as the border dispute, infiltration,
the problem of minorities and the issue of Kashmir.
The party criticized Pakistan for augmenting tension on the border. It believed : "Indo-
Pakistan relations have been strained, since the day Pakistan was established as a separate
State, in fact this estrangement is inherent in the circumstances in which Pakistan was born.
Pakistan came into existence through the planned working up of Muslim hostility towards
Hindus in India and it is keeping that hostility alive to sustain itself against the natural, historical,
economic and cultural factors that point to the reunification of the two States. To that end its
rulers have from the very first day been looking upon India as their enemy number one and
behaving accordingly.'"*. The party considered "both communist China and Pakistan as India's
natural enemies."^
Jana Sangh elaborated the idea that, the ultimate and permanent solution to the problems
of India Pakistan relations is the reunification of the two territories and the establishment of
integrated India. Defining its position the party stated: "The number of people who are beginning
to realize that annulment of partition is essential for the well being of the country and for the
maintenance of world peace is daily increasing both in Bharath and Pakistan. In fact most of
the Indo-Pakistan problems such as Kashmir, rehabilitation of displaced persons, economic
instability and increase in defense expenditure can ail be permanently solved only by the
establishment of Akhand Bharath."®
The party also argued that a policy of appeasement towards Pakistan had not brought
any benefit to the nation. Hence it called for a structural re-orientation of the countries foreign
policy towards Pakistan. As the latter had always followed a hostile policy towards India, the
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278
foreign policy of the country must be made more stringent in order to counter its belligerence.
The Jana Sangh noted; "the policy of appeasement that has so long been followed has not
changed the mentality of the leaders of Pakistan, on the contrary it has strengthened it. The
Jana Sangh is against giving any concessions to Pakistan on the question of, evacuee property,
recovery of India's loans and canal water dues. The leaders of Pakistan having declared Bharath
as their only enemy should be prepared for such a treatment."^
An analysis of the approach of Jana Sangh towards foreign policy position of the Indian
Government regarding the country's relations with Pakistan indicates that like all opposition
parties it displayed a sense of reprehension. It also had made capricious suggestions to deal
with various problems that infected their relations. For instance, it viewed that the only solution
for various problems like the Kashmir issue, the problem of minorities and the border disputes
is the Integration of the entire subcontinent and creation of unified India. This seems to be a
very ambitious, philosophical and idealistic viewpoint, considering the divergences in the
ideological predilections that influenced the inception of the two nations. In addition to this, it
may be opined, the Hindu nationalistic dispositions of the party, renders its views to be
biased. In this context, Geet Puri observes: "in the literature of Indian politics, political parties
and party system in India, the Bharatiya Jana Sangh had been described variedly as reactionary,
communal, Hindu revivalist, ultra rightist, militant nationalist in its ideological orientation and
organizational behavior.
Foreign policy position of BJP towards Indo-Pakistan relations Since origin, BJP held a
critical standpoint towards various issues involved in the ambit of India Pakistan relations. The
party has underscored the significance of having good reiations with the neighbours and observes
that a country which has more neighbours on its borders must evolve a rational foreign policy
in order to maintain sanctity in the region. The party maintains: "it has been the party's view
that our national interest is best served by creating an environment of peace and harmony in
our neighbourhood. But this can only be done on the operation. Right from its inception the
party has interaction with all our neighbouring countries."®
BJP is of the opinion that Pakistan is the most important neighbour to India, relations
with whom commends great strategic relevance and the effectiveness of India's foreign policy
largely depends upon its capacity to safeguard India's national interest when there is a bargain
with Pakistan. On the lines of the Jana Sangh, the BJP expresses concern regarding the
hostile nature of India Pakistan relations. Defining its position the BJP states that "we have
today exceptionally good relations with all our neighbours except the very hostile Pakistan."^®
US military assistance to Pakistan Since inception, one of the key foundations of
Pakistan's foreign policy had been bellicosity towards India characterized by a paranoiac urge
to acquire parity with its larger and stronger subcontinental neighbour. The psyche of the
Pakistani ruling establishment was occupied by a sense of disgruntlement about the manner
in which the subcontinent was divided. The discontentment fundamentally emerged because
of the merger of some of the Muslim majority areas such as Hyderabad, Junagad and
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Foreign Policy Position of BJP
Jammu&Kashmir into India and the meager resources that Pakistan was entitled to receive
after partition. Hence, attainment of military parity with India seemed to be an appropriate
panacea for all the difficulties faced by the country. V.P. Dutta elaborates that "The urge for
parity with India was deep and compulsive. The enmities and jealousies that the India-Pak
relations witnessed were an inevitable part of psychology of separation and division. No sacrifice
was too small, every effort was bent upon achieving equality with India's security considerations
which were overlaid with a strong sense of rivalry and competition."'*''
At this moment, the origin of cold war politics and a bipolar rivalry between the US and
the USSR created a tailor made situation for Pakistan and it joined the US military block and
started receiving military assistance from the US. Here a notion prevailed that, "the failure to
solve the Kashmir issue had brought about a US Pakistan military agreement and presented
a threat to the whole of South Asia."^^
BJP has viewed that the military assistance rendered to Pakistan by the US is a
prominent source of threat to peace and security of South Asia, With this, the flames of cold
war had permeated within the boundaries of the region. The party further stated that the US
sought to bolster its own interests and attain vantage over the USSR as a part of its cold war
grand strategy and in doing this it has jeopardized the peace and tranquility of the entire Asian
region. Above all the US was making absurd projections that it is creating a security wall for
the region against an anticipated Soviet offensive. The party commented: "it is the view of the
BJP that the contemplated US arms assistance program to Pakistan is based on a faulty
prognosis. From Turkey to Saudi Arabia to Pakistan the US is creating a cordon saniaire in its
attempts at containing USSR."^*^
The party considers that due to US military assistance to Pakistan, the development
and economic stability in the region has been disturbed. To counter the upgradation of military
technology by Pakistan, India has been compelled to divert its resources from development to
defense. This is a hindrance to the socio-economic development of not only the two countries
but it has impeded the progress of whole of South Asia, since an aura of insecurity always
prevails in the region. "The BJP believes firmly that the peace security and progress of this
region lies in friendship between India and Pakistan. What Pakistan needs is more is political
stability and economic development not sophisticated armaments of offense."^"*
The party argues that the end of cold war struck an optimistic note and a hope was
generated regarding the possible seizure of US arms assistance to Pakistan. Anyhow, it
laments that US is still continuing its strategy of militarily building up Pakistan. The party also
sees this U.S. action as a mute acceptance to Pakistan's nuclear program.
Defining its position the BJP states: "the BJP cannot but express its shock and
resentment that despite the end of cold war, there continues to be a pro Pakistan tilt in the
American policy. Further the US is preparing to reward Pakistan for its development of nuclear
weapons of which the US intelligence agencies were fully aware, by supplying dozens of F 1 6
The Indian Journal of Political Science 280
aircrafts which with some modifications can bombard large parts of India with nuclear
weapons."^^
But it may be opined that the end of cold war indicated major paradigm shifts in US's
policy towards South Asia. US's condemnation of Pakistan after the Kargil crisis and the
latest civilian nuclear deal between India and the U.S. which made latter's preference towards
India ahead of Pakistan apparent. These developments indicated to the fact that in the changed
international situation, the U.S. Does not require Pakistan as a regional base to counter the
communist expansion because of the demise of Soviet Union. Hence BJP'S notion that the
US is still tilted towards Pakistan even after the end of cold war does not seem to commend
much relevance.
In addition to this the issue of U.S. military assistance to Pakistan cannot entirely be
treated with an Indo-centric bias. Pakistan's internal compulsions may have also led it to join
U.S. sponsored military alliance. Ashwini K Ray observes; "The primary motivation for Pakistan's
alliance may have been the internal factors of the country rather than its foreign policy needs.
Hence, "The India centered explanation of the U.S. Pakistani military alliance and its subsequent
re-incarnation obscures its true purpose and the overall dynamics of Pakistan's foreign policy
as a protege of the U.S. although Pakistan's disputes with India were no doubt central to
Pakistan's foreign policy immideately after independence. But it is a common mistake to look
it too narrowly in the context exclusively of Pakistan's conflicts with its big neighbour. The fact
is that U.S. alliance played no part whatever in Pakistan's wars with India, when it was defeated
in 1 965 and again in 1 971 . The U.S. administration took great care to ensure that Pakistan did
not deploy the military hardware provided under the terms of the alliance in its conflicts with
india."^'^
In this context US military assistance to Pakistan as an issue in India Pakistan relations
appears to have become insignificant. So the views of BJP in this regard also seems to have
become out of context. Not only there has occurred structural changes in the geometry of
global politics but in turn this has also brought in qualitative changes in the nature of the
bilateral relations between India and Pakistan and India and the US. A fundamental
transformation in the nature of the triangular relationship between India, Pakistan and the US
has also been witnessed, in this connection the opinion of some of the leaders of the BJP also
underwent modifications, specifically after U.S.'s condemnation of Pakistan after the Kargil
crisis. Expressing his views former BJP president L K Advani notes: "indo-US ties had been
liberated from the shackles of cold war, which was mainly responsible for Washington's widely
perceived pro Pakistan tilt in the past."^®
Kashmir issue
Partition of the subcontinent brought with it one of the most vexed territorial disputes of
the present times, conflict over Kashmir. Ever since the creation of Pakistan, its leaders have
expressed discontentment over this division. Pakistan has followed an irredentist policy and
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Foreign Policy Position of BJP
presents its claims upon the territory on the basis of the axiom that as Pakistan was carved
out of Muslim majority areas, Kashmir which was a Muslim majority territory should be one of
its parts. Hence it argues that Kashmir remains to be an unfinished agenda of partition.
Its unavailing attempts to physically occupy Kashmir by an armed intrusion in liaison
with the local tribesman in 1 948 and its subsequent failures in 1 965 and 1 971 further exasperated
the situation. Even the bilateral dialogues and agreements of Tashkent, Shimla, Lahore, Agra
and mediation efforts of the U.N.O also have proved to be futile. In this situation the Pakistani
coterie adopted odious means in its machinations to alter the geo-political status of Kashmir.
After the wrecking defeat in 1 971 , it started a proxy war along the Indo-Pakistan border and
sponsored insurgency and terrorism through its cabal consisting of the ISI. It has used terrorism
as a subversive instrument of foreign policy to.destabilize India and the policy here was to
bleed the country by thousand cuts.
Apart from this, the divergent political perceptions of India and Pakistan on the Kashmir
issue, yet again complicates the problem. If India terms violence in Kashmir as terrorism,
Pakistan dubs it as freedom struggle and ventilates its abetment to terrorism as moral support
to that struggle. Thus even after over half a century of their existence, both countries are
enmeshed in conflict on one single issue of Kashmir. All the other issues are convoluted in the
Kashmir issue, "it will not be an over simplification to state that the lack of normal, healthy and
stable Indo-Pakistan relation is also due to unresolved Kashmir issue.
The BJP had expressed very radical views on the issue of Kashmir. As an opposition,
the party had condemned the Kashmir policy of successive Indian governments, as total
failures. The party viewed that over the years, Kashmir policy had been marked by hollowness.
As it did not give proper attention to the Internal problems of the region, relating to its socio-
economic development and political stability. The BJP commented: "the absence of political
farsightedness and clarity of national objectives has resulted in our nation continuing to have
to pay a price even fifty years after Jammu and Kashmir became a part of the republic because
of the failure of the successive Congress governments to formulate a policy on Jammu and
Kashmir that takes into account State's internal problems which have become a principle
challenge to our nationhood.
The BJP in its early days as an opposition emphasized that whole of Jammu and
Kashmir including the territory under foreign occupation is an integral part of India. Criticizing
Pakistan for perpetrating terrorist activities in Kashmir as a blatant interference in the internal
affairs of the country, the party exhorted the government, "To take active steps to persuade
Pakistan to abandon its policy of hostile interference in our internal affairs by supporting
insurgent and terrorist groups."^^ :-and affirmed "unequivocally India's sovereignty over the
whole of Jammu and Kashmir including the areas under foreign occupation."^^ Like the Jana
Sangh, the party also reflects an inclination for reclaiming Pak occupied Kasfimir in order to
bring a permanent solution to the entanglement and to solve the internal problems of the
State. It articulated thus: "the BJP realizes the magnitude of the challenge and dedicates
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282
itself to the task of not only solving the internal problems of the State but also reclaiming the
portion of our territory which has been illegally held by Pakistan for nearly five decades.
The views of BJP on Kashmir issue discussed above, indicates that the party's approach
has been radical in looking at the problem and prescribing solutions to deal with it. Like the
Jana Sangh, the party's Hindu nationalistic dispositions may be one of the factors that might
have been a major influence on its radical outlook. The idea that permanent solution to the
problem lies in reclaiming the areas of Kashmir under the illegal occupation of Pakistan,
implies that the party considers war as the most viable option to break the stalemate over
Kashmir. Already both the countries have fought four wars centered round this issue and
considering the socio-political and strategic antecedents in which the region is embedded,
the possibility of another war cannot be declined. Contemplating the perils of the declared
nuclear status of both, war may not be a sensible option. Hence it seems that it would be
rational on the part of the two countries, to maintain status quo. A sagacious solution appears
in the acceptance' of the LOG as the permanent international border. This will also facilitate
the promotion of socio-economic development in the region and help in establishment of
political stability.
In its tenure as the leader of the coalition Government at the center, the BJP was
involved in efforts to find an amicable and lasting solution to the Kashmir issue and restore
normal relations between India and Pakistan. In this context the diplomatic initiatives and
confidence building measures initiated by the BJP led government can be noted. The introduction
of the bus service from Delhi to Lahore, the signing of Lahore declaration, the announcement
of the unilateral cease fire in Kashmir for the month of Ramzan and its subsequent extensions,
the Agra summit, Srinagar peace initiative of April 1 8th 2003 made by the then prime minister
A.B. Vajpay, the special Diwali offer consisting of a set of 1 2 confidence building measures
announced on October 12 2003 and finally the offer to start a bus service from Srinagar to
Muzafferabad, which has materialized under the Congress led UP A Government. All
demonstrates the attempts made by the BJP led coalition Government for bringing a peaceful
solution to the Kashmir conundrum.
But even after all this, the deadlock in Kashmir continues and terrorist violence seems
to be unrelenting. As a result, Kashmir issue remains kindled. In this regard it may be argued,
neither in the opposition nor as the leader of the coalition, the party manage to discover viable
options to deal effectively with the problem. Hari Singh comments: "neither the Congress
leaders nor the opposition leaders have so far shown that they know how to deal with the
situation. They have only been groping in the dark since 1 947. Merely changing governors or
political brokers does not constitute a policy or a strategy we did not have a policy in 1 947 we
do not have one today."^'‘The BJP led coalition Government's Kashmir policy has been criticised
thus; "Even the most articulate observer would firid it difficult to elucidate New Delhi's Kashmir
policy. Lacking a clear cut direction it has been a victim of confusion. The policy occasionally
gets laced with bright patches which however do not take long to disappear owing to the
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Foreign Policy Position of BJP
government's own lapses. Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee's iaudable bus journey to
Lahore ended in the costly Kargil intrusions caused mainly by the government's intelligence
failure. New Delhi's widely acclaimed ceasefire initiative has hitherto failed to yield any positive
result.
The inability of the BJP led coalition Government to explore pheasible alternatives for
an amicable solution of the Kashmir entanglement renders its articulations and criticisms to
be a sham. Thus it can be underlined that political parties must properly grasp the prevailing
situation before commenting upon the government's policies towards an acute issue such as
Kashmir. The goal of political parties in this regard must be more creative and contributory
rather then critical or condemnatory.
Cross border terrorism
In the ambit of India Pakistan relations, terrorism is the most significant component
that symbolizes serious domestic and international ramifications for both. Pakistan dubs
terrorism in Kashmir as freedom struggle and has used it as subversive instrument of foreign
policy through which it seeks to attain its goal of dismembering Kashmir from India. On the
other hand for India terrorism has become a major security challenge that has pushed the
stability and integrity of our nation state into shambles. The protracted dispute over Kashmir
engraves in it, the genesis of terrorism in the Sub-continent. "Pakistan having failed to wrest
Kashmirfrom India by means of direct armed conflict in 1947-48, 1965 and 1971, now opted
for a low cost proxy war against India by sponcering terrorism in Jammu&Kashmir."^®
Due to this complexities in India Pakistan relations has been intensified. Kargil crisis
witnessed Pakistan's proxy war reach to its peak and after this event; the peace process was
almost derailed. Although the process of constructive engagement has been revived, terrorism
still remains as a major irritant in India Pakistan relations. "Terrorism has become one of the
most complicated problems and it has adversely affected the relations between the two countries
in the recent times. Infact, it has become one of the most pressing problems of foreign policy
that required immediate and serious consideration and a resolution. The manner in which the
partition of the subcontinent had taken place, a number of post independence problems had
made the two countries to fight three wars. But the problem of terrorism that led to a low
intensity conflict in which both countries have been engaged since the 80s has further
deteriorated their relations. Its latest and ugliest manifestation can be seen after the “July
11 terrorist strikes in Mumbai and the finger pointing by India at Pakistan."^® Leading to the
cancellation of the foreign secretary level meeting scheduled to be held on 21 July 2006,
resulting in a further drift in their diplomatic ties.
BJP alleged Pakistan of blatant interference in the internal affairs of India by sponsoring
insurgency and terrorism. Primarily to cause internal destabilization, in order to advance its
own obnoxious claims on Kashmir. The party observed; "some of India's neighbours interfere
in our internal affairs with impunity. Pakistan aids and abets and directly takes part in promoting
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284
terrorism in Punjab and Jammu & Kashmir. Pakistan instigates infiltration across our borders
in Rajastan and Gujarat."^® Further the party reprobated Pakistan for extenuating its act of
sponsoring terrorism on the pretext of protection of human rights of people of Kashmir and its
subsequent attempts to internationalize Kashmir Issue. The party commented: "no wonder
Pakistan feels it can come to no harm by continuing to aid and abet the terrorists in Jammu
and Kashmir. At the same time despite its dismal performance in Genoa at the annual session
of the UN human rights commission, Pakistan has not abandoned its effort to internationalize
the Kashmir question, in the guise of protection of the human rights of people of Kashmir."^
As an opposition, the party criticised successive Indian government's for not devising
robust policies to tackle cross border terrorism patronized by Pakistan. It has condemned
that successive Governments at the center have been ineffective in bridling the influx of terrorism
into the Indian soil. It favoured the espousal of an aggressive policy to counter Pakistani
sponsored terrorism, in the event of Its Government not taking concrete steps to stem the
spate of insurgency across Indian borders. The BJP notes: The government of India has been
unable to convince Pakistan that, there is a limit to India's patience. Half a decade of terrorism
perpetrated in Kashmir should be enough to convince the government of India that. It cannot
shirk its responsibility to the country. If Pakistan does not end its abetment to the terrorists
soon, India will have to decide on what steps to take against Pakistan to curb its nefarious
activities in Jammu and Kashmir."®^
Right from the day BJP formed the Government at the center, it had assigned top
priority to India Pakistan relations, In its security and foreign policy. The BJP led Government
contended that the fundamental issue In the bilateral relations of the two countries is terrorism.
Turning down the claims of Pakistan that Kashmir is the core issue, the Government had
taken the position that any amicable solution to the ruffled relations between the two neighbours
rests upon Pakistan ending its abetment to terrorists. It further had stated that any decision to
hold dialogue with Pakistan or any peace initiative to normalize relations will be taken only
after Pakistan takes solid and sustained measures to wipeout the scourge of terrorism. This
position of the BJP led Government was reflected in the then prime minister Atal Behari
Vajpayee's statements at various national and International forums. Addressing the United
Nation's General Assembly, Mr. Vajpayee had asserted: "New Delhi would not dialogue with
Islamabad as long as Pakistan continues to sponsor terrorism in Kashmir. Pakistan was
using terrorism as a tool of blackmail and that just as the world has refused to negotiate with
the Al-Qaeda or the Taliban, India too would not negotiate with terrorism. A dialogue would
take place between India and Pakistan, only when cross border terrorism Is stopped or was
eradicated and then we can dialogue with Pakistan on the other issues between us."^^
After visualizing the party's views on cross border terrorism, it may be noted here that
although the BJP had severely criticised the non-BJP Governments for failing to curb terrorism,
it is a paradox that even after it formed the Government at the center; it was unable to find
concrete solutions to the problem. It appears that, political parties in the opposition are critical
Foreign Policy Position of BJP 285
of the policies of the government without a proper comprehension of the ground realities.
Hence a prudent opposition must therefore be able to understand the situational compulsions
under which policy decisions are made and involve In constructive criticisms so that quality of
a governments policy is bolstered.
The BJP led Government's policies to counter terrorism were characterised by
inconsistencies and there was dearth of firmness. The leaders of the BJP had boisterously
advocated that, there will be no dialogue with Pakistan until it ends perpetrating terrorism from
its soil. But paradoxically, the Government made a U turn and invited the Pakistani president
for a summit at Agra and again it made a peace initiative in Srinagar. This indicates that the
dynamics of domestic politics and the tumultuous character of international relations may
compel the Government's policies to be vacillating, Hence for this no Government can be held
for ransom. In view of this it may belirgued that political parties should rise above partisan
considerations and arrive at a common concensus regarding the appropriate measures to be
adopted in order to deal with the vexed problem of terrorism.
The nyclear factor In India Pakistan relations
Attainment of a nuclear military posture by India and Pakistan has been considerably
influenced by the military defeats they suffered at the hands of their neighbours. India's defeat
at the hands of China in 1 962 and Pakistan's defeat at the hands of India in 1971, compelled
both the vanquished nations to bring structural alterations in their national security policies. In
addition to this, Chinese nuclear tests in 1 964 and India’s nuclear tests, also had a phenomenal
impact upon the psyche of the political class in India and Pakistan respectively. India's nuclear
tests haunted Pakistan in the same manner as Chinese nuclear tests did for India. •
After India's conventional military superiority was demonsttrated in the war of 1 971 The
ruling establishment in Pakistan came to the conclusion that a favourable solution to the
disputes with India can be achieved only by developing a credible nuclear capability. So as to
counter the conventional military superiority of India. The nuclear testing by India in 1 974 at
Pokhran, braced Pakistan's beliefs and It became a serious challenge to its policy makers.
The urge for the procurement of nuclear weapons capacity was deeply embedded in the
psyche of Pakistani leadership. Pakistan's prime minister Z A Bhutto went to the extent of
stating: "If India developed an atomic bomb, we too will develop one even if Pakistanis have to
eat grass or leaves or to remain hungry, because there is no conventional alternative to the
atomic bomb."^®
Writing about the roots and dimensions of Pakistan's nuclearisation Steve Wiessman
and Herbert Krosney argue: right from the mid 1950s Zulfiqar AH Bhutto when he became a
minister in Ayub Khan's cabinet, was an advocate of Pakistan developing nuclear weapons.
Pakistan's defeat in 1 971 strengthened Bhutto's conviction. He took the decision that Pakistan
should have a nuclear weapons capacity, two years before India's 197’4 tests in Pokhran. His
articulated logic was that Pakistan should have such a overwhelming superiority in non
The Indian Journal of Political Science
286
conventional weapons that India would never be able to defeat Pakistan in conventional
warfare. "[34] By and large it can be stated that Pakistan's nuclearisation was fundamentally
Indo-centric.
On the other hand, the motives for India's nuclearisation were quiet dissimilar to that of
Pakistan, it mainly emanated out of the hostile environment around its neighbourhood due to
the presence of a declared nuclear power China and Pakistan with a covert nuclear weapon's
capability. What was worse, both of its neighbours fostered a belligerent security and foreign
policy that was demonstrated in the breach of its territorial integrity once by China and thrice
by Pakistan. This may have compelled India's policy makers to evolve a nuclear security
policy. The restrictive and discriminatory international regimes governing the possession of
nuclear capabilities such as the CTBT and NPT might have also catalysed India's nuclear
motivations. The ultimate culmination of the nuclear endeavours of India and Pakistan,
manifested in the nuclear testing by both the countries in 1 998. The declared nuclear status of
the two subcontinental rivals added a new irritant in their bilateral relations. In addition to this,
Kashmir issue also seems to have attained a critical dimension.
The genesis of BJP's views on nuclear issue in Indo-Pakistan relations can be traced in
the ideas of some of the leaders of its predecessor the J ana Sangh. They were of the opinion
that the nuclear environment in India's neighbourhood, the declining security situation in the
region and the strong undercurrents of cold war politics governing the affairs of South Asia
after Pakistan's military alliance with the US, constrains India to attain a credible nuclear
capability for the protection of its national inte, ^st. "They argued that India's prestige and
national security depended upon nuclear weapons."^® "In the 1 970s, Jana Sangh was one of
the most vocal pro-bomb pai1y."[36] A B Vajpayee the then Jana Sangh leader ardently
advocated that India's security and strength lies in its nuclear capabilities. "India exploded its
first nuclear device in May 1974. Vajpayee was among the first to extol the decision."^^
As already indicated like the Jana Sangh, China and Pakistan are deeply ensconced in
the national security perception of the BJP. The party held the view that China's declared
nuclear weapon status and Pakistan's covert endeavour for attaining nuclear weapons capability
and their apparent adversarial relations with India, justifies a more hawkish nuclear policy for
the country aimed at achieving weapons capacity. Former BJP president L.K. Advani had
asserted; "So far as the BJP is concerned it Would like to reiterate that against the background
of China and Pakistan having become nuclear powers, national security warrants that India
too must develop a nuclear deterrent of its own."^®
This was also the party's popular agenda. The 1 996 election manifesto declared that
"The BJP will re-evaluate the country's nuclear policy and exercise the option to induct nuclear
weapons."®® BJP's prioritization of a national security policy based upon nuclear deterrence
emanates from its conviction that Pakistan had nuclear weapons capability prior to that of
India and it was perilous for the latter's security and territorial integrity . It declared: "Pakistan’s
nuclear aspirations carry within them dangerous portents for a serious destabilization of the
Foreign Policy Position of BJP 287
strategic balance in the subcontinent."'^® Hence as an opposition it strongly urged the
Government to adopt a more hawkish nuclear policy. The party indicated: "Pakistan is now a
nuclear weapons State and this fact changes the military equation in the Hindustan peninsula.
The Government of India must take any and all measures including the exercise of the nuclear
option to meet Pakistan's challenge to India’s territorial integrity."'^''
The profound security threat perception of the BJP, might have propelled the party
when it came to power as the leader of the coalition government at the center in 1 998 to
exercise the country's nuclear option and conduct nuclear test at Pokhran: There was an
animated nation wide debate over whether or not the BJP led coalition government should
have taken the unprecedented step of crossing the nuclear Rubicon & terminating the established
nuclear ambiguity maintained by the previous Government's. Unlike the 1 974 tests were in the
Congress government claimed that, they were done for peaceful purposes. The BJP led coalition
government candidly declared that, the tests were conducted to demonstrate India's credentials
in nuclear technology and its use for defence and strategic purposes. The primary contention
of the BJP led coalition government was that conducting nuclear tests were essential to give
India a valid choice to retort the geo-strategic threats posed to India in the prevailing nuclear
environment in the region, indicating th~ motivations behind the tests, senior BJP leader and
the then prime minister A.B. Vajpayee noted: "The Government was faced with a difficult
decision. The touchstone that has guided us in making the correct choice here was national
security. These tests are a continuation of the policies set into motion that put this country on
the path of self-reliance and independence of thought and action.'"^^
But it appears that the BJP led coalition government exaggerated upon its stance. No
doubt the long drawn security threat perceptions of India with regard to its hostile neighbours
Pakistan and China is apparent and it was amplified when the two acquired nuclear capabilities.
But the prospects of Pakistan or China using nuclear weapons against India seems to be
bleak, simply because of the devastating effects of such an adventure, not only upon whom it
is used but on the user also. Hence the claims of the BJP led coalition government that
threats to India's security lured them to conduct the tests, does not gain much ground. Apart
from this time has shown that existence of nuclear weapons has not proved to be critical or
contributory for the security situation In South Asia. "In the more then five years since India
and then Pakistan in that order declared themselves nuclear weapon States, there has been
no evidence that the acquisition of nuclear arms has strengthened security in South
Asia."'^® Condemning the nuclear tests, I.K. Gujral former prime minister stated in the Lok
Sabha, "There was no security compulsion for performing the test."'*'*
In the Indian polity the BJP has emerged as a formidable force and with this, the Indian
political system witnessed a structural transformation from a one party dominant system to a
multi party system. In the course of its ascendancy to the pinnacle of political power, the
party attempted to use its Hindu nationalist ideological foundations to widen its social support
base especially in the subaltern levels of the Indian society. In this context Shaila Seshia
The Indian Journal of Political, Science
288
states; "in the 1 991 Lok Sabha elections under the leadership of L K Advani the BJP presented
itself to the electorate, as a flagrantly pro-Hindu party. It hoped that its Hindu nationalist
platform would unite the Hindu community and expand BJP's support in the rural areas and
among the lower caste."'*®
But transpiration of the BJP as the ruling party was coalesced by a qualitative
metamorphosis in its character. After BJP came to power, it attenuated its strong Hindu
nationalist ideological predilections. This fact gets credence if we notice its adaptability to
form a coalition government with a number of parties which had divergent ideological propensities
and did not share the Hindu nationalist ideological premises with the BJP.
Now the top leadership of the party is advocating that the members of the party must
moderate their extreme Hindu nationalist proclivities, "at the parties April 1 998 national executive
meeting at New Delhi, Advani asked the party members to shelve the core idea of Hindutva, in
the interest of producing a stable coalition Government."'*® The recent description of Jinnah as
a secular leader by L.K. Advani iin his visit to Pakistan is also an indication of the ongoing
transformation in the basic character of the party.
BJP's views on Indo-Pakistan relations has also underwent qualitative transformation,
after the party came to power. While in the opposition the party had presented very radical
views on the basis of its Hindu nationalist foundations, similar to that of its precursor the Jana
Sangh. But when the party formed the government heading a coalition at the center, slackening
of its extreme views on various issues of Indo-Pakistan relations is visible. The various peace
initiatives and confidence building measures launched by the BJP led coalition government
since 1999. significantly, the introduction of Delhi Lahore bus service, the signing of Lahore
declaration, unilateral ceasefire in Jammu&Kashmir, Sri Nagar peace initiative and the special
Dewali offer can be cited in this regard. All this indicates that now the BJP is not in favour of
bringing radical solutions to the contentious issues in Indo-Pakistan relations, on the other
hand the inclination is towards resolving the disputes through dialogue.
Regarding the issue of Kashmir the BJP had held very extreme views, the party
recommended for reclaiming those parts of the territory which are under the occupation of
Pakistan. But now the senior leaders of the party in the BJP led coalition government
are complimenting the idea that, the pennanent and rational solution to the Kashmir
dispute lies in maintaining status quo and accepting the LOG as the pennanent international
border. On the whole the fundamental transfonnation of the parties views on Indo-Pakistan
relations is visible in the fact that the Jana Sang had held the view that the pennanent solution
to the problems of Indo-Pakistan relations lies .in the integration of the two countries, but
disparate to this notion the leaders of the BJP are of the opinion that the geographical positions
of India and Pakistan cannot be altered. This position of the BJP is highlighted in the statement
of the senior leader of the BJP Mr. A.B. Vajpayee when he said that "history can be changed
but not geography."'*’'
289
Foreign Policy Position of BJP
Anyhow, the compulsions of operating a coalition Government and multi party competition,
induced an inevitable transfonnation In the position of BJP on IndoPakistan relations. The
party molded its views in such a way so as to facilitate its smooth accommodation into a
coalition structure, in order to remain in power. Hence the attitude of the party on various
issues has become more pragmatic in order to suit the needs of the present Indian political
system, in other words the party's approach now seems to be based on considerations of real
politic rather than ideological romanticism. "Thwarted by the logic of collective action and by
a predominant party determined to avoid any sectarian division, Bharatiya Janata party's
ascendance was far from inevitable. It Is the product of shrewd political maneuvering by the
Bharatiya Janata party elite within a politico-economic environment that was ripe for change.'"^®
References :
1 . Navnita Chadha Behera, India Pakistan relations: alternative foreign policy options, in
Lalitman Singh ed, India's foreign policy agenda for the 2Ft century, Vol I!, Konark
publishers. New Delhi, 1 997, p.236.
2. S.S. Patagundi, Urban elites perception of India's foreign policy, research report submitted
to the Indian council of social science research. New Delhi, 1993, p.1.
3. James N. Rosenau, Towards the study of national international linkages, in James N.
Rosenau ed. Linkage politics, The Free press, Klew York, 1 969.
4. Mohammed Ali Kishore, Jana Sangh and India's foreign policy. Associated publishing
house. New Delhi, 1969, p.141.
5. Bharatiya Jana Sangh, Party documents, principles and policies manifestos constitution,
Vol 1, Bharatiya Jana Sangh, Vithalbai Patel Bhavan, New Delhi, 1973, p.25.
6. Mohammed Ali Kishore, op.cit, p.1 41 .
7. Ibid,p.142.
8. Geet Puri, Bharatiya Jana Sangh organization and ideology. Sterling, New Delhi, 1 980,
P-5.
9. Bharatiya Janata Party, Foreign policy resolutions and statements 1980-1999, BJP
publications. New Delhi, 1 999, p.10.
10. Ibid.
11. V.P. Dutta, India'sforeignpolicy, Vikas publishers, New Delhi, 1984, pp.138-139.
12. Acharya Kripalani's statement. Parliamentary Debates, 1 0[2] 23 December 1 953.
13. Resolution of the BJP National executive meeting held at Cochin on 23rd April 1 981 , in
foreign policy resolutions and statements 1980-1999, op.cit p.8.
The Indian Journal of Political Science
290
14. Ibid.
1 5. Resolution of the National Executive Meeting held at Vadodra on June 9 1 994, in The
Foreign Policy Resolutions and Statements 1 980-1 999, op.cit pp.51 -52.
16. Ashwini K. Ray, Domestic compulsions andforeign policy; Pakistan in Indo-Soviet
relations 1 947-1 958, Manas publications, New Delhi, 1 975.
17. Hamza Alavi, Pakistan U.S. military alliance, Economic and political weekly, June 22-
281998.
18. Resolution of the BJP national executive meeting held at Gandhi Nagar on June 2 1 992,
in Foreign policy resolutions and statements, op.cit, p.35.
19.. K. Subramanyan, The Hindu, 5 November 2003.
20. Bharatiya Janata Party, election manifesto, general elections 1 999, BJP publications.
New Delhi, 1999, p.35.
21. Ibid. [22] Ibid. [23] Ibid.
24. Hari Jai Singh, Kashmir a tale of shame, UBS. publications, New Delhi, 1 996, p.1 0.
25. B.K. Chum, The National Herald, 1 May 2001 .
26. K. Warikoo, Islamist mercenaries and terrorism in Kashmir, Himalyan and Central
Asian Studies, 2[2], April-June 1999, p.35.
27. Kuiwant Kaur, Terrorism in South Asia: a case study of India and Pakistan, in B.P.
Singh Sehgal, Global Terrorism: Socio Political and Legal Dimensions, Deep and Deep
publications. New Delhi, 1995, p.1 46.
28. Editorial, The Hindu, 1 2 July 2006.
29. Resolution of the national executive meeting held at Bhuvaneshwar on November 7
1992, in Foreign policy resolutions and statements, op.cit, pA 7.
30. Ibid.
31 . Resolution of the BJP national executive meeting held at Vadodara, op.cit. p.52.
32. The Hindu, 26 September 2003.
33. Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, awakening the people, speeches of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto 1 966-1967, .
Rawalpindi, 1970, p.21.
34. Steve Weissman and Herbert Krosney, The Islamic bomb, Time books, New York,
1981.
35. George Perkovich, India's nuclear bomb Impact on Global Proliferation, Oxford University
291
Foreign Policy Position of BJP
Press, New Delhi, 1999, p.151.
36. ibid.
37 C.P.ThakurDevendraP. Sharma, India under Atal Bihari Vajpayee the BJP era, UBS
Publications, New Delhi, 1 999, p.1 32.
38. Extract from the address by the then party president L.K. Advani at the plenary session
at Bombay, on November 10-121 995, the BJP Publications, New Delhi.
39. Bharatiya Janata party, election manifesto, general elections 1 996, BJP Publications,
New Delhi, 1996.
40. Resolution of the BJP national executive meeting held at Bhuvaneshwar, op.cit.
41. Resolution of the BJP national executive meeting held at Thiruvanthapuram, on 10
September 1 991 , in Foreign policy resolutions and statements, op.cit, p.31 .
42. Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Lok Sabha debates, English version, 29th May 1998, second
session. Twelfth Lok Sabha, Twelfth series, 1 1[3] Lok Sabha secreteriate, New Delhi
1998.
43. The Hindu, 4 September 2003.
44. I.K. Gujral, Lok Sabha debates [English version] 29 May 1 998, second session [twelfth
Lok Sabha twelth series Vol 2 no.3, Lok Sabha secreteriate New Delhi, 1998, pp.347-
348.
45. Shaila Sheshia, Asian Survey, 38[1 1] November 1998, p.1045.
46. The Hindu, 28 April 1998.
47. N.M. Ghatate, Atal Bihari Vajpayee Decisive Days, Shipra publications. New Delhi,
1999, p.215.
48.
Shaila Seshia, op.cit, p.1 039.
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The Indian Journal of Political Science
Vol. LXVIll, No. 2, Apr.-June, 2007
INDIA’S FRANCOPHONE AFRICA POLICY :
LENIENCY TO PARTNERSHIP
Vidhan Pathak
There is comprehensive shift and changes in the foreign policy of India from the earlier
decades of 1970s and 1980s in the 1990s. The 1990s have witnessed the rise of economic
thrust in India’s foreign policy. As a result, India foreign policy has been increasingly
driven towards finding export markets, attracting foreign capital and know-how.
Francophone African countries had remained the unexplored part of India's economic
strategy. However, the big leap in Indian thinking occurred in the 1990s when it stopped
seeing these countries in terms of the old third world agenda of decolonisation and non-
alignment. Issues such as disarmament and non-alignment that had brought the two
regions together have taken a backseat in this era of globalisation. The recent Indian
efforts were about plugging a huge gap in India's strategy of intensifying political and
economic contact with these countries. Before the decade of 1990s, India doesn't have
definite and clear-cut policy towards the Francophone African countries. They were
broadly covered under the India's broader policy framework towards Africa continent as
whole. Thus in nutshell they were more noticeable for their absence in indian foreign
policy considerations rather than partners in struggle. However in the 1990s with fast
globalising world and the change in the ranks and profiles of India as well as Francophone
African countries, Indian foreign policy has taken new initiatives to rope in them in its new
drive for economic and strategic cooperation to achieve the developmental goals. More
precisely, the quest for African energy and to gain their strategic support in various world
forums like UN and WTO and other international organizations besides the vast untapped
economic potential of these countries have driven Indian foreign policy strategists to
emphasis on stronger relations with these countries. As a result initiatives like Team-S,
Focus Africa, Agricultural Development Projects, Line of Credits (LoC) facilities and
investments in Energy sector by OVL are already in place.
Introduction :
India and Africa are neighbours across the Indian Ocean. The continent of Africa has a
special place in the national political consciousness of India over decades. India extended moral
and material support to the African liberation movements in their struggle for freedom and to
realize their human and political rights. India’s abhorrence for ail forms of discrimination, support
to African liberation movements and independent countries of that continent lies rooted in the
strong historical and emotional links that binds India to Africa. The historic role of Mahatma
Gandhi in South Africa, India’s consistent support to the liberation struggle and anti-apartheid
campaign laid the firm foundations of the India’s Africa policy. The increasing cooperation between
India and the Francophone African countries in all fields is due to India’s historical affinities and
innate sympathies with the aspirations of the people of the Francophone Africa and equally
innate desire to assist the development of their personality In all ways possible. India has
welcomed the opportunities emerging from the wide-ranging political and economic changes
taking place throughout the Francophone Africa which when viewed In conjunction with India’s
own changing profile, provide a functional framework for a new and purposeful engagement
between India and the Francophone African countries in the common endeavour to exploit for
mutual benefit the complementarities of their skills and resources. India attaches priority to
sustaining and rejuvenating its close and privileged relations with these countries. Building on
The Indian Journal of Political Science
294
almost five decades of close political support and provision of technical assistance, India is now
moving towards closer economic and trade relations with the countries of Francophone Africa in
true spirit of South-South Cooperation. The current euphoria of India in Francophone Africa has
acquired a new dimension with strong emphasis on strengthening trade and economic exchanges
and a renewed focus on South-South Cooperation in the 1990s. However, the foundation for
such cooperation definitely lies in the historical bondage that India shares with the continent of
Africa. The goodwill and credibility of India among these countries has its foundation on the
historical role India played in the freedom struggle in the continent of Africa besides its growing
economic strength in the 1990s.
India’s Francophone Africa Policy: Historical Perspective
Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, the architect of Indian foreign policy, laid the firm foundation for
India’s Africa policy and the war against colonialism and racism formed, some of the basic
ingredients of his early foreign policy. Nehru’s during his visit to Brussels Congress in February
1 927 met a number of African delegates and developed a feeling of commitment for Africa.
During Nehru’s period, Indian policy towards Africa was based on his personal commitment to
the Afro-Asian resurgence and he gave a new life to the idea of Afro-Asian solidarity. Nehru like
Gandhiji, believed that freedom of Indian should be a means of promoting the freedom of all
oppressed people. He worked out a strategy of diplomacy and gave shape and direction to the
country's foreign policy. Nehru, immediately after the independence, observed that the objectives
of Indian Foreign policy were the preservation of world peace and the enlargement of human
freedom. Thus, the evolution of Indian foreign policy that took place immediately after independence
was informed with idealism and there was no dearth of issues for her to espouse. Nehru described
the idealism of today as the realism of tomorrow. As a result of this idealism during the decade
of 50s and 60s, India was among the most prominent countries, which had not only achieved
independence but was also working for the independence of other countries.^ In fact she has a
creditable record of supporting liberation movements in Africa and the anti-apartheid struggle. It
was natural for her to assume leadership role against colonialism and racism and thus she was
in the forefront of the global struggle for decolonisation of Africa. India has been supporting the
cause of African independence in various international forums. India was very active at the
United Nations on these issues. In recognition of India’s positive contribution, she was unanimously
elected chairman of the UN special committee on decolonisation set up in 1 961 } Thus during
the initiat period, India’s policy towards Africa can be ascribe as India’s firm commitment for
decolonisation of African countries and struggle in South Africa to end the racial discrimination.
For Nehru the emergence of Africa from colonial bondage to independence was a part of the
continuum of Asian-African resurgence. The importance of Africa, he felt, arose from the fact
that “though separated by the Indian Ocean from us, it is in a sense our next door neighbour."^
He propounded the doctrine of non-alignment as a strategy of liberation in the post-colonial
period. For him Africa was not a remote continent but “a neighbour across the Indian ocean."'^
295
India’s Francophone Africa Policy :
Thus, one of the major strands of his policy towards Africa was the support for the struggle
against colonisation and the racial discrimination. Under the leadership of Jawaharla! Nehru,
India was the founder member of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM). Nehru propounded the
doctrine of non-alignment as a strategy of liberation in the post-colonial period at a time when
the world was entering the period of cold war. As the cold war began, Nehru’s principle of non-
alignment appealed to the Africans, which they adopted after their independence.^ The African
acknowledged both Nehru's and Mahatma Gandhi’s support for the African struggle. Mazrui
says that Gandhi’s message of non-violence and passive resistance inspired many black leaders
in Africa including Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana, Kenneth Kaunda of Zambia and Julius Nyerere of
Tanzania.® However, towards the end of Nehru’s tenure, India’s relations dipped to a low with
African countries. This was due to a number of factors. Firstly, India’s hesitation in fixing a date
for the end of colonialism in Africa, on the logic that it was unrealistic, at the Belgrade NAM
Summit in 1 961 made it look soft towards the colonial powers. Although in 1 960s, India gave
moral and diplomatic support to African liberation struggles, it was branded as one having
softened attitude towards colonial powers. Indian insistence on non-violent struggles against
colonialism, advocacy of peaceful co-existence and recall of Apa Saheb Pant from Kenya under
British pressure shattered the high expectation of African nationalists and brought out the
limitations of India support to African liberation struggles. The preference for peaceful path of
struggle, priority for preservation and extension of area of peace which placed decolonisation at
secondary level, absence of meaningful armed and material support of opposition to fix the date
of colonial withdrawal all made Indian policy look timid and soft. Secondly, its insistence on
African liberation movements to adopt peaceful means as opposed to China’s overt gestures
towards arms assistance was not appreciated. Thirdly, India’s defeat in the Sino-Indian war in
1962 caused a setback to the image of India as a leader. Fourth, immediately after the 1962
war, India was busy countering China at every multilateral forum. However few African nations
gave diplomatic support to India, bilaterally or at multilateral fora like NAM.^
Historically, India has identified with Francophone African countries in their anti-colonial
struggles. Independent India’s pursuit of the goal of freedom and self-government for all countries
in Africa as well as Asia brought the French dominated territories in Africa within the general
ambit of India’s Africa policy. India consistently and constantly championed the cause of the
political advancement of the African colonies of France in the UN T rusteeship Council and the
UN committee on non-seif governing territories.® However, India’s anti-colonial pronouncements
on the French imperialism were generally muted. This was partly because of the peculiar juridical
status and constitutional evolution of the African colonies of France and partly because India
was engaged in delegate negotiations with France for the transfer of sovereignty in respect of
former French settlements in India.® However, the confidence of the Francophone African countries
on India stems from the fact that India had always been in the forefront of all motions, actions
and movements that pressed and aimed at the decolonisation of the African countries and doing
away with "settler colonialism”. India had initiated and chaired UN committees on decolonisation.
The Indian Journal of Political Science
296 ,
The declaration of Independence by the then French territories in August-September 1 960, led
by Ivory Coast was greeted by India with caution, probably as their juridical status was still
uncertain. By August 1961, when the Francophone African states were celebrating the first
anniversary of their independence, India was represented in almost every capital by a special
envoy, though in most cases it was the head of the Indian mission in a neighbouring Anglophone
country. India has had cordial relations with these countries since their independence. However,
with the independence of these countries, the rallying point between the two regions i.e. support
to liberation struggles come to an end.
The Post Nehru Era: 1970s and 80s
By the mid 1 960s, India undertook a serious reassessment of its policy in Africa and
adopted some fresh initiatives. Indira Gandhi’s African safari in 1 964 was aimed at measuring
the depth of African solidarity with India. Subsequently, India stopped treating African countries
as bloc and become selective in its friendship. Prime minister Indira Gandhi took a personal
interest in cultivating good relations with African liberation movements on a new footing. India,
under Mrs, Gandhi also extended legal recognition to progressive African liberation movements.
By the end of 1 960s, India had tough politico-diplomatic task to overcome the growing differences
in Indo-African state relations. By early 1970s there were many remarkable achievements by
India at domestic front, which injected self-confidence in it. India won 1971 war with Pakistan
liberating Bangladesh. Indian victory was decisive. It was able to stand against the combined
threat of Pakistan, China and USA. The Sino-Soviet conflict and cold war had enabled India to
sign 1 971 T reaty of Friendship and Cooperation with USSR resulting in her ability to ignore the
threats of Kissinger and Seventh Fleet of USA. Indian diplomacy scored a point by obtaining the
support of one super power against the other. The success of green revolution and achievement
of self-sufficiency in food grains and production demonstrated Indian economic and managerial
capability. Indian explosion of nuclear device restored its military confidence and raised its
status as military power. The launching of Aryabhata again placed among leading scientific and
technological countries of the world. Thus, by the 1970s, India’s stature had risen in African
eyes, the Indo-Soviet T reaty (1 971 ), the 1 971 war, the Green Revolution and the Peaceful Nuclear
Explosion in 1 974, probably contributed towards this change. The two major implications of
these developments were that, one, India succeeded in arresting the reverse on the diplomatic
front, which it was suffering since the Indo-Chinese war of 1962. With newly acquired self-
confidence Indian policy became positive including towards African countries compared to 1 960s
when its major concern was to contain China and Pakistan. Secondly, for Africa India again
became a power to turn for help and assistance and as model for development.
In the 1970s and 80s, India continued to support the liberation struggles in Africa. It
worked closely with the Africans in the fight against apartheid in South Africa and Namibia, not
just at the UN but also at other multilateral fora such as NAM and the Commonwealth. India
India’s Francophone Africa Policy : 297
(South West African People’s Organization) in 1985.''^ In 1970 the UN General Assembly adopted
the resolution on the right of the people of South Africa to end colonialism by “all means at their
disposal” including armed struggle. This resolution was backed by India and it was a clear
departure from its earlier insistence on peaceful decolonisation. India worked hard with Afro-
Asian countries to get these resolutions passed. On 5 October 1 976 the UN Committee against
Apartheid was specially convened in New York to pay tribute to India for its crusade against
Apartheid. On 5 October 1976 the United Nation Committee against Apartheid was specially
convened in New York attribute to India for its crusade against Apartheid. Delegates from ail over
the world showered praise on India for its principled stand against apartheid during last thirty
years. Romesh Chandra, as the President of the peace council, made a significant contribution
in promoting support to the ANC, and was honoured by the United Nations in 1 982.'’^ Besides
providing diplomatic support for liberation struggles, India also started backing it with finance
and material support. India provided financial and material aid to the liberation struggle in Africa,
through multilateral institutions like the OAU, the UN Fund for Namibia, UN Educational and
Training Programme for South Africa, and finally through the Action For Resisting Invasion,
Colonialism and Apartheid (AFRICA) Fund. The AFRICA Fund was established by NAM under
Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi’s leadership in 1 986 and India made the first contribution of US $40
million to the fund. In the next five years of its existence the fund rendered valuable assistance
to the frontline states and the liberation movements in South Africa.''^ The visit of Prime Minister
Rajiv Gandhi to the four frontline states, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Angola and Tanzania in May 1 986
was widely welcomed as a 'timely gesture of solidarity' with the frontline states and support for
the relentless struggle against the apartheid regime in South Africa. Rajiv Gandhi and successive
Indian Prime Ministers continued this policy. Earlier, India had provided financial and other
assistance to ANC in 1 967 to maintain its Asia mission in New Delhi. India gave the first major
'International honour' to Nelson Mandela the “Nehru Award for International understanding” in
1979.^"^ Prime Minister V.P. Singh offered Nelson Mandela a cheque of US$ 5 million and he
was conferred the highest Indian award “Bharat Ratna" when he visited India after his release
from jail. India also provided hundreds of scholarships and places in educational institutions to
Africans. Few newer diplomatic initiatives like ‘Award Diplomacy’ and visit of Indian leaders to
Africa were also taken during this period. All-important leaders of African countries were given
one after another “Jawaharlal Nehru Award for International Understanding”.
India’s Economic Diplomacy in Africa; Since its independence, India based her foreign
policy pronouncements on anti-colonialism, anti-racialism, non-interference in internal problems
of other countries and for a free hand to build up economic base for the country, India wasted no
time after becoming free to extend its support for the African cause through various international
organizations. India extended its fullest support to all the African countries in their struggle for
liberty, race-wise equality and for economic opportunities.''^ Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru
since India’s independence was trying to promote, in a modest way, economic stability of the
African continent. With its limited resources, whatever little contribution India could make or is
The Indian Journal of Political Science
298
making towards the well being of Africa, stemmed from India’s genuine desire to strengthen the
roots of their hard-won independence. In looking at India’s economic assistance to Africa, Nehru’s
fundamental approach was that India should appear as a friend and ally and not as an exploiter.
He was eager to share and exchange knowledge and experience. During the Nehru years of
India’s policy, the ‘basics’ of dismantling colonial mould were worked out.''® The South-South
Cooperation and Collective Self-Reliance was an important aspect of that policy thrust. Both for
India and for Africa, Nehru prescribed the evolution of their own models of economic development.
He was of the view that there could be no wholesale import of such models from the West. Each
developing country must look into its own national conditions, genius and ethos. Nehru kept on
emphasizing that India’s friendly relations with the Africa should be strengthened through economic
and technical cooperation. Even at that time Nehru realized that the economic cooperation
among the developing countries was a must for the gigantic effort to overcome poverty, hunger
and under-development. He was an advocate of North-South Cooperation, but he felt that economic
self-reliance, meaning thereby South-South Cooperation, was more important for the developing
world. Jawaharlal Nehru has been called the founder of the economic cooperation programme
with the countries of Africa. India launched a policy of economic diplomacy in Africa and this
was flagged off with the launch of the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC)
programme in 1 964. This cooperation programme has, in fact, become a model of South-South
Cooperation.''^ Nehru was aware that the complementarities and similarities between in India
and African social and economic conditions presented a tremendous scope for mutually beneficial
cooperation. It was Nehru’s foresight, which realized that what Africa needed most urgently was
trained and educated manpower. He was aware that the educational facilities available in most
African countries were meagre and they would not be able to build a trained, technical and
bureaucratic infrastructure with their limited resources and training facilities. Thus, to encourage
“people to people” cooperation the Indian government started sending small numbers of teachers,
doctors, engineers and other professionals to Africa.'® In historical perspective, South-South
Cooperation was considered a must for the gigantic effort to overcome poverty, hunger and
under-development in the Third World countries. It stands for safeguarding political independence,
economic strength and collective self-reliance among the developing countries and to do away
with the dependency syndrome.''® Thus, with an urge for economic emancipation and
democratization of international economic relations, the countries of the Third World raised the
voice for a just and New International Economic Order (NIEO) during early 1 960s. To this end,
they initiated the North-South dialogue but that proved frustrating due to intransigence of the
North. As a result, these countries had no option but to cooperate among themselves to avoid
their exploitation by the North, to build up their sound economic foundation and also to develop
their strong bargaining position vis-a-vis the North. Hence, they decided to enter into mutual
dialogue for the South-South Cooperation for their economic emancipation and future prosperity.^®
These countries launched concerted efforts in the UN which led to the establishment of the UN
Conference on T rade and Development (UNCTAD) which held it first meeting in March 1 964 and
the Group of 11 also in 1 964 which became the principal forum and instrument respectively of
India’s Francophone Africa Policy : 299
the Non-Aligned countries in the UN for achieving the required changes in the international
economic relations. The sixth special session of the UN General Assembly in 1 974 adopted a
‘Declaration of Programme of Action for the establishment of a New International Economic
Order (NIEO), which envisages more active economic relationships among the developing
countries.^^ Thus, the thrust for the mutual cooperation among the Third World countries has
varying expressions, viz., NAM meets since 1955; UNCTAD meetings since 1964; the G-77
meetings since 1 964; Technological cooperation among Developing Countries (TCDC); Economic
Cooperation among Developing Countries (ECDC); the G-15 meetings since 1990, SAARC,
African Union, ECOWAS and so on.
Indian's economic diplomacy towards African states showed some changes with the
changed domestic and International situation in the 1 970s. Earlier Indian economic diplomacy
was geared to achieve political objectives, to check Chinese and Pakistan influence in Africa
and to end the diplomatic isolation of India in forums like NAM, Commonwealth, UN etc.^^
However, the growing industries and need to keep its balance of trade kept Indian economic
diplomacy on forefront of its foreign policy. The economic diplomacy, which supported the
political imperatives of 1 960s, became the primary objectives by 1 970s. Now political diplomacy
started pushing the economic objectives under the umbrella of NAM and South-South Cooperation.
Thus, India Africa policy acquired a new dimension from early 70s onwards. The increasing
realization for need of cooperation among developing countries got articulated in various Indian
and African diplomatic interactions by the early 1 970s. In Lusaka Summit of NAM (1 970), both
African states and India underlined the need for economic cooperation among themselves. The
resolution on ‘Non-Alignment and Economic Progress’ was separated from 14 other resolutions.
The need for South-South Cooperation was realized. Thus the South-South Cooperation emerged
as a challenge against the north -south dependence. NAM not only acquired a political dimension
but also strong economic content over a period of time. The Group of 77, which consist mostly
of the non-aligned countries, became an important instrument of negotiation and articulation of
views of the developing countries in all fora where economic issues were discussed. India
played an active role in strengthening the movement and making it an effective voice in representing
the collective aspirations and interests of the developing countries on such vital issues as
development, peace and stability.^^ Thus, emphasis on economic diplomacy increased in the
early 1 970s in tandem with the realization among developing countries in Asia and Africa of the
need for economic cooperation among themselves. Adoption of Lagos Plan of Action by the
OAU in 1980 underlined the importance given by the Africans to regional and South-South
Cooperation.
In short, it can be stated that foreign policy of independent India had political goals to
achieve, which meant that economic issues were at the back seat in the 1960s. Thus, the
driving force for Indian economic initiatives in Africa during mid 60s was political. However, India
acknowledged their developmental concerns and extended support and assistance to these
countries. Thus with its ideological commitment to NAM and Afro-Asian resurgence and based
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300
on its relative economic strength, India kept on pursuing her economic goals in this region.
-However in the 1960s, the call for South-South Cooperation could not become popular in
Francophone Africa, because of the prevalent belief that massive injection of capital from France
and other developed countries to this region would lead to their economic devetopfrient Even
during the 1 970s, the Indian government’s talk of South-SGufi Cooperation could not get
encouraging response from this region. This h^pened as their hope lor France aided development
had not completely shattered. France had close socio>“^conomic and military ties with
Francophone African states and more than half of France's foreign aid flowed to these states.
Under cold war conditions, political issues again took precedence over economic ones and
Indian government’s emphasis on South- South Cooperation in trade, technical and education
and other matters did not yield required dividends. Thus, the South- South Cooperation, which
was pursued by India from the early 1960s, did not find favour with these countries until the
1 980s due to this optimism that France and other developed countries would help them to boost
their economy. However, in the 1 990s, this is no longer the case as they have realized that
development of south lies in the hands of south. In todays globalise world this is the framework
in which developing countries like India and Francophone African states could pursue their
journey of growth and development to its logical end.
India’s Diaspora Policy in Africa : The second important strand of Nehru’s Africa
policy was related to the people of Indian origin settled in Africa. However, there was change and
continuity in India's policy towards Indian settlers in Africa. Nehru took the issue of discrimination
against Indians in South Africa beyond the Commonwealth to the United Nations. During Nehru's
Prime ministership when the question of racism in South Africa was taken up in the United
Nations, it was only the case of discrimination against Indians in South Africa that was India's
concern, though soon Indian had to change its policy to include black Africans also. The Indian
approach of special support to Indians in South Africa lasted till the late 1 950s. Till then the
resolution of the INC used to articulate and strongly support the cause of Indians in South Africa
though it used to express support to South African non-Indian sufferers also but in general
terms.^"^ However, A change in the Indian position occurred when the Indian government took the
initiative in the United Nation and raised the question of discrimination of Indians in South Africa.
The South African government argued that Indians were South African nationals and any treatment
meted out to them fell under the domestic jurisdiction of that country. Besides this, the Asiatic
land Tenure and Indian representation Act of 1 946 also recognises that Indians were not aliens.
Thus, the govt, of India also changed its position on the Indian questions and called it a racial
issue. Once India raised the issue of South African Indian settlers in the United Nation based on
the human rights clause, it soon realized that it could not keep the issue confined to Indian
settlers. India extended support to all groups and communities subjected to racial discrimination
in South Africa. Thus, there was a shift in the Indian approach and policy towards Indian settlers
In South Africa. India started associating the discrimination of blacks and Indians together. The
shift was explained by President of India, Rajendra Prasad in his address to parliament in 1 952.
India’s Francophone Africa Policy : 301
He said, ‘The question is no longer merely one of Indians in South Africa, it has already assumed
a greater and wider significance. It is a question of racial domination and racial intolerance. It is
question of Africans more than that of Indians in South Africa.”^^ While Nehru believed in
cooperation between Indians and Africans but initially his sympathy and worry were also confined
to Indians in South Africa. This contrasted with his general policy of Indian support to the
combined struggle of Indian settlers and Africans in which the African cause was paramount.
Nehru always stood for the primacy of Africans if their interest was to clash with Indian settlers.
It is this duality between Nehru’s policy for the change and continuity in Indian support to the
African liberation struggle and Indian advice to Indians in Africa.^® Nehru advised the Indians to
identify themselves with the local community, adopt a more positive attitude towards the political
aspirations of the people of their adopted countries. In economic matters, he advised them not
to seek any special privileges at the cost of equal opportunities for the struggle.^^
in fact, India was in a dilemma when it came to the Indians living aboard after 1 947. India’s
foreign policy formulator Jawaharlal Nehru felt that India’s foreign policy stood for independence
from all foreign involvement with its focus on non-aligned and good relations with the developed
as well as the developing nations especially the newly emerging Asian and African countries.
And thus excluded a specific policy towards the overseas Indian community. The policy adopted
by Nehru after independence in 1947, considered the overseas Indians as an external entity
outside the purview of Indian domestic and foreign policy formulations. Nehru categorically advised
his overseas Indians to integrate themselves within their host countries. Nehru was clear In
enunciating his foreign policy goals that plainly stated that the Indians who had left their country
of origin to seek employment abroad had to integrate with the local population, support their
struggles for freedom and even put ‘their cause first’. He pointed to their economic success in
these countries where they were guests and stated that it was their turn to support their movements
of political struggles. Though Nehru referred in his Republic Day addresses in 1 960-62 of the
‘mother country’ and the position of the overseas Indians as ambassadors to the host countries.
However, as slowly India become supportive of the decolonisation in Asia and Africa, it left the
its Diaspora to fend for itself. India took little interest in overseas Indians. The past protestations
of the plight of the indentured labourers and their terms of employment were soon forgotten. After
independence, successive Indian governments adopted an attitude of studied indifference to the
overseas Indians lest they should appear to be interfering in the internal affairs of another country.
They were anxious not to appear as their protector or to encourage their return back to India nor
to expose them to the suspicion of divided loyalty. Therefore, independence hardly brought any
anticipated relief to the plight of overseas Indians in the British and French colonies as a
consequence of the distinct Nehruvian policies of respecting national sovereignties, cultivating
amicable international relations, non-interference into the affairs of other nations and the pursuit
of non-alignment.
Compared to Nehru period Indian policy shifted regarding Indian settlers in Africa in the
70s. Indira Gandhi called them ‘Ambassadors of India’ and by end of 1 970s she had unsuccessfully
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302
tried to intervene in Kenyanisation. However, after the Indian experience in East Africa (Kenya
and Uganda), she also endorsed the Nehruvian policy of non-interference and stressed on India’s
relations with the African nations first over her concern for the treatment meted out to the Indians
in Africa. Some changes were also prevalent in the Indian policy towards its Diaspora during
Janata government in 1977. These included rectification in the laws that would permit Indians
living overseas to their motherland, even if they were foreign nationals. The government also
organised a seminar and declared that the Indian Council of Cultural Relations would be involved
with the Indian Diaspora. However, the issue of Indian settlers hardly had ahy important place in
the Indian diplomatic and economic initiatives towards Africa during the 1970s and 80s. The
government of India for almost four decades more or less followed the NehrLivian policy. The
policy adopted under Nehru continued till the Rajiv Gandhi years. This policy of impassiveness
towards the Indian Diaspora continued till the 1 980s. Thereafter, a slow but steady transformation
seems to have been set in motion so far as policy towards Indian Diaspora is concerned. The
government of India in reality did not have a central machinery to deal with the Daispora till the
mid 1 980s. The first time any special department or agency was mentioned was in 1 986, when
a special approval committee was constituted within the department of industrial development
for the expeditious clearance of the industrial proposals of NRIs. Then in 1 987, an Indo-NRl
Chamber of Commerce and Culture was set up to promote the overseas Indian’s cases. These
measure were the result of an early phase of liberalisation in the 1 980s. This the GOI hoped
would fuel back some investments into the country, yet the procedures kept the NRIs out.
The evolution of India’s Francophone Africa policy in the post-cold war period could be
seen in the context of above historical developments. However, in the decade of 1 990s, in the
change world conditions, the strategic, economic and political positions and equations between
the countries make an obvious shift. And that is also true for the Indian foreign policy. The new
feature of India's Francophone Africa diplomacy during 1 990s is its emphasis on economic
partnership with these countries.
India’s Francophone Africa Policy: Post-Cold War
In the decade of 1 990s, a unipolar world has been emerged with the collapse of the Soviet
Union. The international economic as well as political and strategic environment has also undergone
dramatic change. Globalization has become a force, which no country could ignore, in this fast
globalizing world, India displayed the first signs of strategic assertiveness and a willingness to
acquire national power and military power and not be apologetic about it, in the 1990s. India
related events like India’s nuclear weaponisation i.e. Pokharan II, India’s Nuclear Doctrine, and
India’s response to Pakistan’s adventure in Kargii indicate its growing strength and importance.
Further India’s economic liberalisation and its willingness for integration into the global economy
reinforces this image. Thus, the four-decade-dd domestic economic policy of India was reversed
which has implications to foreign policy too. The new and continuing policy has meant opening
up of the Indian economy to foreign economic competition. India launched itself on a definite
India’s Francophone Africa Policy : 303
path of economic reforms, liberalization and greater Integration with the global economy. The
reversal of this old domestic economic policy has also brought about a significant shift in India’s
priorities in world affairs and its traditional diplomacy. India has practically abandoned its old
active role in political developments and In favour of a higher priority for promoting international
economic cooperation and consequently economic diplomacy.^® Today, it is the experience of
nations that a major content of foreign policy at bilateral and global level is economic arrangements.
Every country is looking for some economic benefit or the other for itself. Thus, economic
development has become the primary concern of Indian foreign policy, it is now more realistic
and in the pursuit of national interest and is based on the recognition that India’s place in the
community of nations will be determined by the economic and military strength. Issues such as
non-alignment and disarmament have taken a backseat in this era of globalization. In the recent
years the Indian foreign policy has witnessed the rise of economic thrust. Economic diplomacy
has been a key component of India’s foreign policy. Apart from long established divisions in the
ministry to deal with economic issues, an Investment Publicity Unit (IPU) was specifically set
up in 1 990 with a view to disseminating economic information and coordinating the economic
and commercial activities of Indian missions abroad in the light of the economic reforms underway
in the country. In the early Nineties, the Ministry of External Affairs annual reports reiterated
that, “in the future, new relationships based on concrete economic, technological and educational
cooperation will assume enhanced significance”. Indeed, ever since economic liberalization in
1991 , India’s foreign policy has been increasingly driven towards finding export markets, attracting
foreign capital and know-how. One aspect of Indian economic diplomacy has also been the
promotion of South-South Cooperation. The Indian Economic and Technical Cooperation (ITEC)
Programme, today extends to 1 1 0 countries in Asia, East Europe, Africa and Latin America and
facilitates the training of as many as 1 ,000 foreign candidates in Indian Institutions every year.®®
In changed world scenario and due to recently liberalised and globalise economy, Indian
foreign policy gives much importance to Western countries and developed nations. However,
India’s Francophone Africa policy has also undergone significant changes in the post cold war
period. There has been a perceptible shift in its approach and attitude towards the problems of
the Francophone African countries. The new feature of India’s foreign policy is its emphasis on
strengthened relations with African states. India has adopted several means of economic
interaction with these countries, which include bilateral agreements, granting of credits and
loans etc. High-level visits from India, study cum business tours organised by institutions like
the ASSOCHAM, Cll, FICCl, FIEO etc and government representatives have opened up new
vistas of cooperation in the trade and industrial ventures. India has taken a large number of
initiatives by way of visits by senior experts, policy makers and diplomats to some of the
important Francophone African countries. Under ITEC and SCAAP, the Indian government has
send technical assistance worth US$ 2 billion.to Africa. The launching of lOR-ARC, India-Africa
Interest Group, TEAM-9, Focus Africa etc shows that the Indian foreign policy in context of
Africa is on move. India launched an integrated “Focus Africa” programme from the year 2002-
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304
2003 to enhance its trade with the Sub-Saharan African region. The Focus Africa programme
focuses on Sub-Saharan African region with added emphasis on seven major trading partners of
the region viz. Nigeria, South Africa, Mauritius, Kenya, Ethiopia, Tanzania and Ghana.^° In fact,
the scope of this programme was further extended with effect from 1 st April 2003 to all the other
countries of the Sub-Saharan African region, where India has diplomatic missions. Thus, the
programme in effect, covers the entire African continent. Under this programme, the Government
of India extends assistance to exporters. Export Promotion Councils, etc. to visit these countries,
organise trade fairs and invite African trade delegations to visit India. The initiatives taken under
this programme have received an encouraging response from the Indian exporting community. It
is likely to boost bilateral trade with African countries in the coming years.
In continuation of its broader Africa policy, India has also made efforts to strengthen
political understanding and expand economic cooperation with the countries of Francophone
West Africa.^"' India's recent opening to the countries of Francophone West Africa has consolidated
with the progress in bilateral relations with the countries like Senegal, Cote d’Ivoire, Burkina
Faso, Mali and Togo.^^ A wide-ranging political dialogue with several key countries in the region
also displays a considerable degree of understanding of India’s security interests.®^ India’s
search for political influence and new sources of energy has washed up the remote shores of
Francophone West Africa where New Delhi’s foreign policy reach has been notable for its absence.
This region has become an important source of hydrocarbons for the world and India in the
recent years. In the coming decades, India along with china is going to become the largest
consumer and importer of petroleum products. American oil companies are making beeline to
the region and Chinese oil companies are already in Africa. India does not want to be left behind.
India's ONGC Videsh has already made investment in Ivory Coast. Energy diplomacy therefore
is important component of Indian foreign policy towards this region. Considering the potential
that this region offers and insignificant Indian presence in that market, India launched Team-9
initiative’ in March 2004. The Team-9 initiative’ is expected to diversify sources of India’s energy
security. The endeavour was to put these countries and India together in an economic cooperation
framework. Thus, India’s Team-9 initiative point to a renewed focus on the region, which offers a
huge strategic potential. The Government of India provided concessional credit facilities (LOC) of
US$ 500 million for financial assistance for the various projects and schemes identified for
implementation underthis regional cooperation mechanism. The Government of India also offered
access to training resources in India and facilitate deputation of Indian scientists, technologists
and other experts. In terms of multilateral diplomacy, these countries have always been important.
They form a very important voting bloc in global forums. India is seeking their support in its
candidature for permanent membership of UN Security Council, in WTO and other international
organizations. Given their membership of several multilateral fora such as G-1 5, G-77, NAM and
their common endeavour to set up a just and equitable world order, the renewed contact at the
highest political level underlines the need for strategic consultations between them. Thus, India
has now turned to Francophone West Africa so far neglected in Indian foreign policy considerations.
India’s Francophone Africa Policy : 305
The Indian foreign policy has been shifted to forge beneficial economic relations with these
states. In fact, Indian foreign policy makers are looking forward to identify common areas of
understanding and mutual benefits in the fields of economy, politics and strategy with these
countries. They are conscious that friendship with this large bloc of African countries will be of
considerable value in the future. With the focus on Francophone West African region, the Ministry
of External Affairs, Government of India appointed a Joint Secretary for West African region in
the 1990s. These countries are now receiving greater attention in India’s foreign policy
consideration with the establishment of a high-level inter-ministerial coordination board for the
sub-region.^"^
The wave of globalisation in the 1990s also compelled India to revise its policy for the
Indian Ocean region. Since the early 1990s, India has demonstrated its keenness to engage the
littoral states, regional powers as well as the great powers in its security strategy for the region.
She has sought to enhance the economic cooperation with Francophone Western Indian Ocean
Islands. The readiness to shed the ambiguities of the non-alignment era and willingness to enter
into strategic dialogues with those so interested with India has set the stage for cooperation with
France in the Indian Ocean region. Now engagement is the key word of India’s Indian Ocean
policy in contrast to the cold war policy of isolation. This engagement has been beneficial in
terms of deepening India’s economic and security links with the Francophone Western Indian
Ocean region. It has helped to remove wide spread doubts and apprehensions about India’s
political motivations in the region. Thus, shift in Indian policy has created new openings for
cooperation with Francophone Western Indian Ocean Islands in the Indian Ocean region.
Francophone African countries have consciously embarked upon economic reforms and
political liberalization. These developments have important implication for their relations with
India. Change in the perception began in the early 1 990s. India is conscious that a new Africa is
coming into being, free, economically vibrant and politically representative. African leaders have
prepared a vision for Africa in 21st century. Reform oriented African leaders have crafted the
‘New Partnership for Africa’s Development’ (NEPAD). India is seen as a reliable partner in
helping this vision. The prospects offered by this partnership and the vast potential for sustainable
progress inherent in African initiative show that there is room for countries like India, to share
and be part of this new dynamism. India has emerged today as a key global player. There are
today large number of Indians in information technology and other fields who are making
investments in the European Union. There are technologies, which India can transfer to other
countries given its strength in knowledge industry, it is being increasingly recognized that India
has excellent technology with this respect, which India commands, it should be possible for
India to be of greater help for the developing world and stand shoulder to shoulder with the
developed nations. One important strength apart from IT and knowledge industry which India has
acquired over the last decade or so, Is the emergence of the Indian Diaspora and the political
influence they enjoy in various countries.^^ Although this factor is absent in its relations with
The Indian Journal of Political Science 306
Francophone West African states but certainly it is important factor in its relations with
Francophone Western Indian Ocean states like Mauritius, Madagascar and Seychelles.
India’s Diaspora policy has also demonstrated a change during 1 990s. Since early 1 990s,
there has been a proactive interest of Indian government in the overseas Indians. The Indian
policy changed significantly with regard to this segment during 1 990s. The submission of the
L.M. Singhvi Committee Report on PlOs (People of Indian Origin) and NRIs (Non-Resident
Indians) on 8 January 2002 may be looked at as the most important embodiment of this change
in outlook and approach. The government has undertaken initiatives like celebration of Pravasi
Bharatiya Diwas and the creation of a separate Ministry for Overseas Indians in the light of the
recommendations of the L.M. Singhvi Committee Report. The Indian government now stood for
active and overt association of the PIOs for foreign policy objectives of India, India wants to
promote its economic interests and it has become paramount in Indian foreign policy. When the
liberalization process started in early 1990s, the government of India tried to rope in first the
NRIs and then the Indian settlers abroad to attract foreign direct investment. The PIOs are
important and relevant overseas segment to be roped in India’s.new drive for strengthen bilateral
relations with Francophone African countries.
The other aspect of Indian foreign policy currently is the phenomenon of regionalism. In
order to establish a multi-polar world, smaller countries in the world are getting together and
evolving themselves not merely into economic groups but also acquiring a political personality.
India’s policy is to promote a strong regional cooperative group and to promote friendly relations
with all groups of countries, which have organized themselves regionally. The African union is a
recent phenomenon, which seeks to bring together nations of the African continent. India is
trying.to forge relations with the African groups and has evolved a policy to deal with these
regional groups.^® In this effort, economic diplomacy will be India’s principal tool. India is trying
to evolve free trade arrangements with Africa. T rade and South-South Cooperation will continue
to play a very important role in India’s policy framework. India is not merely looking at investments
from other regions and countries, developed or developing. It is also in a position to contribute
them. There is considerable potential for economic and commercial cooperation, for promoting
small-scale industries in Africa with technological support from India. India has initiated several
economic arrangements with the countries of Africa. These include India’s membership of the
African Development Bank, credit arrangements, several bilateral agreements concluded in the
fields of trade and assistance under ITEC programme etc. India is also involved in constructing
relations of partnership and cooperation with regional African organization like SADC, COMESA,
ECOWAS, UNCCA, African Development Bank etc.
India is committed to multi-plurism. It is not in favour of uni-polarity and therefore the kind
of world order, which India envisage and is working for, is not one merely of technical equality in
the United Nations but greater balance among Nations of the world. India is working for a better
world order in the economic sphere. India is trying to coordinate activities with other developing
India’s Francophone Africa Policy : 307
countries in order to be able to deal with the enormity of the inequality, which exists in the world
today and create an environment, which is more equitable. India has played an active role in the
deliberations of the United Nations on the creation of a more equitable international economic
order. It has been an active member of the G-77 and later the G-15. Other issues, such as
environmentally sustainable development and the promotion and protection of human rights
have also been an important focus of India’s foreign policy in international forums.^^ The other
impact of multi-polarity would be in the security area and in all the arrangements internationally,
which govern nuclear weapons, missiles, high technology etc. India has been consistently of
the view that world cannot have two categories of countries.
India’s diplomatic vision extends to embrace the interests of Africa as a whole, particularly
in the priority area of economic progress and development. Such an economic congruence is
facilitated by a broad agreement between India and the countries of Africa on their vision of a new
world order characterized by peace, justice and equity, and fully responsive to the needs and
interests of the developing world.^® Thus, the government of India continued its policy of
consolidating the gains of almost five decades of close ties of friendship with the countries in the
Africa. Francophone African countries are currently engaged in the simultaneous processes of
economic reform and political democratisation. These processes, being in line with India’s own
national priorities, have strengthened its capacity to identify itself with the aspirations of the
people of Francophone Africa and to engage with them in a constructive programme of mutually
beneficial cooperation.^® As an emerging power, India is ready to play a growing role In
Francophone Africa. Francophone Africa provides India with its growing need for markets and
new sources of raw materials. For a variety of reasons, these countries are important for Indian
foreign policy consideration. Firstly, at the level of diplomacy, cultivation of friendly relations to
gain support in various international fora for policies, vital to India’s national interest, is important
for India’s foreign policy. Secondly, Francophone Africa economically provides vast scope for
mutually beneficial trade and commercial linkages in the spirit of South-South Cooperation. The
imperatives of India’s liberalized and globalize economy makes it necessary that third world
countries and their markets are more seriously explored. The need for expanded export market
and the challenge of the developed and industrialized economies should induce India to develop
closer ties with these countries. Thirdly, India has a stake in NAM, G-77, G-1 5 and also Africa
etc. It has also interest in WTO and restructuring UN, which needs partnership and cooperation
with these countries. Thus, the quality and depth of Indo-Francophone Africa bilateral relations
assume even greater significance and a broader canvas of empathy and support.
Conclusion : There is comprehensive shift and changes in the foreign policy of India from
the earlier decades of 1970s and 1980s in the 1990s. The 1990s have witnessed the rise of
economic thrust in India’s foreign policy. As a result, India foreign policy has been increasingly
driven towards finding export markets, attracting foreign capital and know-how. Before the decade
of 1990s, India doesn’t have definite and clear-cut policy towards the Francophone African
The Indian Journal of Political Science
308
countries. They were broadly covered under the India’s broader policy framework towards Africa
continent as whole. Thus in nutshell they were more noticeable for their absence in Indian
foreign policy considerations rather than partners in struggle. However in the 1 990s with fast
globalising world and the change in the ranks and profiles of India as well as Francophone
African countries, Indian foreign policy has taken new initiatives to rope in them in its new drive
for economic and strategic cooperation to achieve the developmental goals. More precisely, the
quest for African energy and to gain their strategic support in various world forums like UN and
WTO besides the vast untapped economic potential of these countries have driven Indian foreign
policy strategists to emphasis on stronger relations with these countries. As a result initiatives
like Team-9, Focus Africa, Agricultural Development Projects, Line of Credits (LoC) facilities and
investments in Energy sector by OVL are already in place. It is evident now that India is giving as
much importance to Francophone Africa as was expected. Commensurate with national interests
and security, the improvement of bilateral relations is an important component of any foreign
policy and India has succeeded in establishing a network of mutually beneficial relations with
the Francophone African countries. As the U.S., Europe and China step up their dipiomatic
activism in these countries, India cannot afford to stay away from a friendly and inviting economic
space next door. India needs to develop a more sustained political effort if it wants to stay at the
front in an area of great strategic significance. A sense of common cause and a shared future is
an unbreakable link between India and Francophone African countries which will extend to
facing the new and emerging challenges confronting them in the new millennium.
References :
1 . Foreign Policy statement by Shri Yashwant Sinha, Minister of External Affairs, Government
of India on 1 8 November 2002 at National Defence College, New Delhi, (Online web) URL:
http://meaindia.nic.in
2. ibid.
3. T.G. Ramamurthi, “Foundations of India’s Africa Policy’’, Africa Quarterly, Vol. 37 , no. 1
&2, 1997,p. 30
4. K. Mathews, "A Multi faceted Relationship: A synoptic view," Africa quarterly, Vol.37
(1&2),1997.
5. ibid
6. Ali A, Mazrui, Africa’s International Relations, Westview, Boulder Co., 1 997, pp. 117-18
7. Anirudha Gupta, “India and Africa, South of Sahara”, in Bimal Prasad, ed., India’s Foreign
Policy, New Delhi, Vikas Publication, 1979, p. 269
8. Homi J. H. Taliyarkhan, “India and African Liberation Movements and Economic Growth”,
in R.R. RamchandanI, ed., India and Africa (New Delhi, Radiant Publishers, 1980), p. 71.
309
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9. T.G. Ramamiirthi, “India’s Relations with Francophone African States”, Africa Quarterly
(New Delhi), vol. 34, no. 1 (1 994), p. 40.
10. ibid, p. 39.
1 1 . India and African Liberation Struggle, Indian National Congress, New Delhi, 1 976, pp. 92-
96
12. ibid.
1 3. Government of India, Ministry of External Affairs, Annual Report, 1 992-93 (New Delhi,
1993).p.59.
14. E.S. Reddy, "India and South Africa," Main Stream, Jan.11, 1997.
15. T.G. Ramamurthi, “India’s Relations with Francophone African States”, Africa Quarterly
{New Delhi), vol. 34, no. 1(1994), p. 40.
16. R.R. Ramchandani, “India Africa Economic Cooperation in the Context of Changing Globa!
and Regional Relations”, in V.S. Sheth, ed., Globalization and Interdependence: Africa
and India (Mumbai, Allied Publishers Ltd., n.d.), p. 323.
17. Hari Sharan Chhabra, “South-South Cooperation: India and Africa ”, in N.N. Vohra and K.
Mathews, ed., Africa, India & South-South Cooperation (New Delhi, Har-Anand Publications
Pvt. Ltd, 1997), p. 485.
1 8. Ramchandani, n. 1 6, p. 323.
19. Chhabra, n. 17, p. 485.
20. Sudhnshu Tripathi, “NAM and South-South Cooperation”, World Focus (New Delhi), no.
279 (March 2003), p. 11.
21. ibid, p. 12.
22. Ajay Dubey, “Indo-African Economic Relations (1965-85): A Case of South-South
Interaction”, Africa Quarterly, Vol. 28, no. 3 &4, 1987-88, pp. 49-79.
23. High Commission of India, Indian Foreign Policy- 50 Years of Achievement, (London,
Indian High Commision, 2003).
24. Ajay Dubey, "India-Africa Relations and Indian Settlers in Africa", Indian Africanist, Aprit-
June, 1998, p.17
25. ibid, p.18.
26. ibid
The Indian Journal of Political Science
310
27. Ajay Dubey, Indo-African Relations in the Post-Nehru Era (1965-1985), New Delhi, Kalinga
Publications, 1990, p. 25
28. M.S. Rajan, “Introduction”, in Kokila Krishan Gopal and Krishan Gopal, ed., India’s Foreign
Policy and Relations: A Documentary Survey: 1972-92 (Delhi, Shipra Publications, 1999),
pp. 3-4.
29. High Commission of India, n. 23.
30. Hindustan Times (New Delhi), 2 March 2004.
31. Government of India, Ministry of External Affairs, Annual Report, 1998-99 (New Delhi,
1999) , p. 52
32. Government of India, Ministry of External Affairs. Annual Report, 1 999-2000 (New Delhi,
2000) , p. 47.
33. Government of India, Ministry of External Affairs, Annual Report, 1995-96 (New Delhi,
1996), p. 57.
34. For detail see. Government of India, Ministry of External Affairs, Annual Report, 1 996-97
(New Delhi, 1997), p. 53.
35. Government of India, n. 33, p. 51 .
36. Foreign Policy statement by Shri Kanwal Sibal, Foreign Secretary, Government of India
on 23 January 2003 at Geneva Forum, (Online web) URL: http://meaindia.nic.in
37. High Commission of India, n. 23.
38. Government of India, Ministry of External Affairs, Annual Report, 1 984-85 (New Delhi,
1985), p. 22.
39. Government of India, Ministry.of External Affairs. Annual Report, 1 994-95 (New Delhi,
1995), p. 43.
The Indian Journal of Political Science
Vol. LXVIll, No. 2, Apr.-June, 2007
AUTHENTICITY AND DERiVATIVENESS :
DEBATING NEHRUVIAN SECULARISM
VinnyJaIn
Secularism in India is a multivocal word. What it means depends upon who uses the
word and in what context. This paper is an attempt to analyze the issue of secularism
in India in the context of two discourses-The Derivative Discourse and the Authenticity
Discourse. The Derivative Discourse, Derivative in that it draws its philosophical
underpinnings from the Enlightenment and is manifested in Western notions of
modernity is represented here by Jawaharlal Nehru. The Authenticity Discourse,
critiquing Nehru, and based on an understanding of the traditional, authentic socio-
religious sysjems of South Asia, is represented by T.N. Madan and Ashis Nandy. This
is an attempt to find possible answers to a basic query-why has secularism run into
such difficulty in India? The Paper is in three parts. The first part deals with Nehruvian
vision of secularism-the Derivative Discourse. The second part, deals with the
Authenticity Discourse, T.N. Madan and Ashis Nandy. The third part is by way of
possible answers/alternatives.
I
The ideology of secularism was born of the Enlightenment. The word secularization
was first used in 1648, at the end of the 30 years war in Europe, to refer to the transfer of
Church properties to exclusive control of the Princes. What was a matter of fact statement
then became later, after the French Revolution, a value statement as well. On 2nd November
1789 Talleyrand announced to the French National Assembly that all ecclesiastical goods
were at the disposal of the nation, as indeed they should have been. Still later, when George
Jasab Holyoak coined the term “secularism” in 1851 and led a rationalist movement of protest
in England, secularization was built into the ideology of progress. Secularization is nowadays
generally employed lo refer to, in the words of Peter Berger, “the process by which sections of
society and culture are removed from the domination of religious institutions and symbols. It
is widely accepted that Secularism' advocates the separation of politics from religion, the
religious from the temporal a separation of that which is Christ’s from that which is Ceaser’s.
It follows that an adequate theory of secularism must answer atleast three questions-
first is it possible to separate religion and politics? Second, why must religion be separated
from politics? And third, how after separation must the two relate to each other?
312
Authenticity and Derivativeness :
By intellectual preference Nehru’s concept of secularism was shaped in the context of
the rational western Enlightenment ideal. He was against institutional religion, ritual and
mysticism and did not consider himself a religious person. He was not however uninterested
in spiritual matters. Any impressions of his boyhood experiences of Brahmanica! belief were
erased by the powerful impact of his fathers personality and later, by his reading of the works
of Karl Marx, Bertrand Russell and other similar thinkers.^ BR Nanda has described Motilal
Nehru as a “product of the late Victorian free thinking rationalism, which was learning to
dispense with divine explanations of the working of the universe and to pin faith in the human
intellect and on science to lead mankind along vistas of progress’"^ Henry Sender^, describes
the composite culture of the Kashmiri Pandit community of the United Provinces, of which the
Nehrus’ were distinguished members, and the personal unorthodoxy of Motilal Nehru. He also
quotes from Motilal Nehru’s presidential address to the Congress of Calcutta in 1 928 “(The)
association (of religion) with politics has been to the good of neither, Religion has been degraded
and politics has sunk to the mire. Complete divorce of one from the other is the only remedy’’.®
Jawaharlal’s mothers’ “attachment” to Hindu scriptures, pujas, orthodox ritual and
pilgrimages^, meant that he grew up in a divided home. Later, Jawahar’s political world too,
like his home was a divided one with Gandhi taking the place of his mother as it were and
insisting on the validity and indispensability of religious values. Gandhi’s influence however
never succeeded in erasing the earlier and deeper influence of Motilal.®
Nehru’s reading of World History and his encounters with the Indian masses in the
1 920s and 30s made him feel very negative about the role of religion in human affairs and he
looked forward to a secularized society. He was a self confessed agonistic who subscribed to
a rationalist and even a historicist worldview.
Gandhi’s religiosity, to put it mildly, puzzled and annoyed Nehru, it caused him to
write, in his Autobiography, one of his clearest and most mature statements on the subject of
religion. Referring to the anguish that the news of Gandhi’s fast (in Sept. 1 932) on the subject
of separate electorates had caused him while he was in prison, Nehru wrote-
“I felt angry with him at his religious and sentimental approach to a political question,
and his frequent references to God in connection with it”
He further observed-
“India is supposed to be a religious country above everything else... (and yet, I have
frequently condemned (religion) and wished to make a clean sweep of it. Almost always it
seemed to stand for blind belief and reaction, dogma and bigotry, superstition and exploitation
and the preservation of vested interests”®.
Indian religiosity weighed on Nehru’s mind, though he refused to be unduly worried
about it. It was more a nuisance than a problem. In 1 920 he had declared : “if religion or rather
313
Developing Rural Poor Through Micro Finance :
what is called religion, in India, continues to interfere with everything, then it will not be a mere
question of divorcing it from politics, but of divorcing it from life itself The Gandhian imperative
of religion as a guide to all, even the “tiniest activities”, was not what Nehru believed in. As for
the Gandhian notion of divine grace, Nehru considered the idea of a personal God very odd^ ^
He had an implicit confidence in the process of secularization. Proclaiming this confidence in
his presidential address to the Lahore (1 929) session of the Congress he said:-
“I have no love for bigotry and dogmatism in religion and I am glad that they are
weakening, nor do I love communaiism in any shape or form, . . I know that the time is coming
soon when these labels and appellations will have tittle meaning and when our struggle will be
on the economic basis.”'*^
Two years later - in fact again and again during the next two decades he reaffirmed the
primacy of the economic factor - “the real thing to my mind is the economic factor if we lay
stress on this and divert public attention to it we shall find that automatically religious differences
recede into the background and a common bond unites different groups. The economic bond
is stronger than even the national one"^^ These words underlined Nehru’s secular position and
his socialist convictions.
This same train of thought was given considered expression in The Discovery of India
(written is prison during 1 944). Nehru wrote:-
“The belief in a super-natural agency which ordains everything has led to a certain
irresponsibility on the social plane, and emotion and sentimentality have taken the place of
reasoned thought and inquiry. Religion though it has undoubtedly brought comfort to innumerable
human beings and stabilized society by its values, has checked the tendency to change and
progress inherent in human society.”'*'^
Given this position it is no wonder that Nehru was dismissive of the Hindu-Muslim
problem. “The question does not exist for us at all”^^, he declared. In the Presidential address
of the Lucknow Congress (1 936) he said,
“I am afraid I cannot get excited over the communal issue, important as it is temporarily
it is after all a side issue and it can have no real importance in the scheme of things”.''®
Out of prison in 1 945 Nehru faced a rapidly changing political situation and much to his
chagrin, the “side issue” moved fast to occupy the centre of the stage. He was disbelieving
and appalled “to think in terms of Pakistan when the modern trend is towards the establishment
of a world federation is like thinking in terms of bows and arrows as weapons of war in the age
of the atomic bomb”.''^
Yet the country was partitioned on the basis of religion.
Nehru’s position on religion, religious conflict and the significance of the processes of
Authenticity and Derivativeness : 314
secularization was what would be called rationalist and modern, whether one sees it derived
from Marxian or Lockean roots. It was also idealist in the sense that it reflected more the
ideals of the European Enlightenment than the hard facts of society, culture and politics in
India.
Eleven years after independence and eight years after the adoption of the Constitution,
Nehru was visited by Andre Malraux in Delhi and asked what his greatest problem had been
during his years of power. Nehru replied, “Creating a just state by just means’ and, after a
pause, “Perhaps, too, creating a secular state in a religious society”^®, and again in 1 961 , just
3 years before his death he writes- “we talk of a secular state in India. It is perhaps not very
easy even to find a good word in Hindi for secular... some people think it means something
opposed to religion. That obviously is not correct. . . it is a state that honors all religions equally
and gives them equal respect.’’^®
The chasm between Nehru on the one hand and Gandhi and Radhakrishnan on the
other was deep. For Gandhi religious pluralism entailed inter-religious understanding and
mutual respect, it was the strength of Indian society while communal politics tied to Statism
would be its bane. For Nehru however, religiosity and the attendant conflicts were the badge of
social backwardness. Secularism in the sense of neutrality as state policy was an attempt to
cope with a difficult situation. And the state was potentially a very important instrument of
public welfare and social advancement, very much on the lines that J.S. Mill and other liberals
andadvocated.^°
Nehru’s Post Enlightenment rationalism gave to him the primacy of the scientific method
and the scientific approach to life; this was particularly manifest in his insistence that the
economic question had the primacy in all social questions. This he believed to be the ‘modern’
way of looking at history and society.
Thus, for example, that ubiquitous problem of ‘communalism’- which has consistently
dogged Indian nationalism in the 20th century. In theory, the problem as Nehru saw it was
simple enough, the fundamental political requirement was the legal guarantee of full and equal
rights of citizenship, irrespective of religious, linguistic or other cultural differences. That was
the basic liberal premise on which individual civil rights would be established. In addition, there
had to be a consideration of welfare or social justice.
“Every effort should be made by the state, as well as by private agencies to remove all
invidious social and customary barriers which come in the way of the full development of the
individual as well as any group, and that educationally and economically backward classes
should be helped to get rid of their disabilities as rapidly as possible. This applied especially
to the depressed classes. It was further laid down that women should share in every way with
men in the privileges of the citizenship”.^^
315
Developing Rural Poor Through Micro Finance :
it was true of course that the colonial state was hardly interested in providing these
conditions for the full growth of the citizenship. It was an external political force, intervening in
the political conflicts in India in order to further its own particular interests, and therefore
‘playing off’ one side against the other by distributing special privileges on a sectarian basis.
But that was ail the more reason to conclude that a solution to the communal problem required,
as a first step, the elimination of the colonial state and the creation of a true national state.
But once there premises of the national state were granted, there could not exist a
‘communal’ problem any more. The only problems which would then be real would be economic
ones.
“Having assured the protection of religion and culture etc., the major problems that
were found to come up were economic ones which had nothing to do with a person’s religion.
Class conflicts there might well be, but not religious conflicts, except in so far as religion itself
represented some vested interest.”^^
Yet, while this might be clear enough from a scientific analysis of the problem, the
subjective beliefs held by the people did not necessarily allow them to see the solution in such
clear light. Their instinctive beliefs could well be ‘turned’ or maneuvered, and then there was
fear-
“fear that bigger numbers might politically overwhelm a minority. . . people had grown so
accustomed to think along lines of religious cleavage, and were continually being encouraged
to do so by communal religions organizations and government action, that the fear of the
major community, that is the Hindus, swamping others continued to exercise the minds of
many Moslems. . . fear is not unreasonable”.^^
The masses did not act according to ‘reason’, because they had not been taught to do
so. They acted by ‘instinct’ and were therefore susceptible to religious passions. Thus, although
the demands of communalism were quite clearly those of a very small reactionary upper class
within each community, the political support those demands received from the community at
large were by any standard of rational explanation, quite extraordinary.
“It is nevertheless extraordinary how the bourgeois classes both among the Hindus and
the Muslims, succeeded, in the sacred name of religion, in getting a measure of mass sympathy
and support for programmes and demands which had absolutely nothing to do with the masses,
or even the lower middle class... These narrow political demands, benefiting at the most a
small number of upper middle classes and often creating barriers in the way of national unity
and progress, were cleverly made to appear the demand of the masses of that particular
group. Religious passion was hitched on to them in order to hide their barrenness... In this
way political reactionaries come back to the political field in the guise of communal leaders,
and the real explanation of the various steps they took was not so much their communal bias
as their desire to obstruct political advance”.^"*
Aythenticity and Derivativeness : 31 6
Within the new scientific construction of society and politics, the problem of the subjective
beliefs of the masses, as distinct from their objective economic interests, was not one which
could be rationally comprehended, for these beliefs were located in the realm of unreason, of
passions of spontaneity. All that could be comprehended were the motivation and interests of
the political leaders and organizations which sought to manipulate the masses by playing up
their religious passions. And so, understanding the politics of communalism becomes a problem
of identifying which group of politicians used which particular issues to mislead which section
of the people.
Sir Syed Ahmad Khan, who launched a movement in the late 1 9th century to popularize
western education among Indian Muslims was not a reactionary because without this education,
Muslims would have remained backward. ‘The Muslims were not historically or ideologically
ready then for the bourgeoisie nationalist movement, as they had developed no bourgeoisie,
as the Hindu’s had done. Sir Syed’s activities, therefore, although seemingly very moderate,
were in the right revolutionary direction”.^® However in the early 20th century when the Aga
Khan emerged as leader of the Muslims, it meant “the lining up of the Muslim landed classes
as well as the growing bourgeoisie with the British government, by using the religious issue to
forestall any political threat to stability of British rule or to the vested interests of the upper
classes".^® Still the inevitable drift of the Muslim bourgeoisie towards nationalism could not be
stopped.
Following World War I, the All brothers, M.A. Ansari, Abul Kalam Azad and a number
of bourgeoisie leaders, began to play an important part in the political affairs of the Muslims.
Soon some of them were swept by Gandhi into the Non-Cooperation Movement. But the
communal and backward elements both among the Hindus and the Muslims came back into
the picture. There was a struggle for jobs for the middle class intelligentsia, there was also the
special problem of Punjab, Sind and Bengal where the Hindus were the richer, creditor, urban
class and Muslims the poorer, debtor, rural class. ‘The conflict between the two was therefore
often economic but it was always given a communal colouring. There was communalism on
the part of the Hindu politicians as well, ‘masquerading’ under a nationalist cloak, but really
seeking to protect upper class Hindu interests’’.^'' But in each of these cases there was
particular political leadership or organization which played upon the religious sentiments of
the masses in order to gather support for particular policies or interests affecting only the
upper classes. When these policies were in favour of broad goals of a united national movement,
they were progressive, when not, they represented the activities of “a small reactionary group
which had set out to “exploit and take advantage of the religious passions of the masses for
their own ends”.^®
A Nehruian answer to the question why secularism has run into difficulties in India
would, then, be that the people are not yet ready for it. It requires on level of genera! education
that is yet beyond them, and a liberal outlook on life and scientific temper which unfortunately
Developing Rural Poor Through Micro Finance : 317
they lack. The achievement of independence, the dislodging of British imperialism and efforts
by the Indian State to underline the primacy of the economic, would automatically lead to a
withering away of the religious and communal issue. Nehru believed that he failed in ‘training’
the masses toward this goal, and what was a ‘side issue’ continued to occupy centre stage.
II
This derivative model of Indian secularism, derivative vs a vs the Enlightenment, has
drawn persistent pronouncements deeply critical of Indian secularism, all dissenting with its
priority. Amartya Sen lists half a dozen such.^® It Is possible to juxtapose the derivative mode!
of Indian secularism with what may be termed as Authenticity model- authentic in that it is not
derived of the Enlightenment, but draws its principles from the traditions and practices of the
people of India and represents the Indian felt experience. Two major advocates of this view In
recent years have been Ashis Nandy and T.N. Madal. It is their critique of Nehruvian secularism
that 1 juxtapose here as the Authenticity mode!.
Prof. Madan, in the now famous article, “Secularism In its Place”, made the rather
provocative statement that, “in the prevailing circumstances secularism in South Asia as a
generally shared credo of life is impossible, as a basis for State action impracticable and as
a blueprint for the foreseeable future impotent. It is impossible as a credo of life because the
great majority of the people of South Asia are In their own eyes active adherents of some
religious faith. It is impracticable as a basis for State action either because Buddhism and
Islam have been declared state or state protected religions, (and Hinduism by one State as
well one might add) or because the stance of religious neutrality or equidistance is difficult to
maintain since religious minorities do not share the majority’s views of what this entails for the
State. And it is impotent as a blue print for the future because, by its very nature it is incapable
of countering religious fundamentalism and fanaticism.^^
Secularism for Madan is “the dream of a minority that wishes to shape the majority in
its own image that wishes to impose its will upon history but lacks the power to do so under '"Tj
a democratically organised polity
Madan argues that South Asia’s major religious traditions-Buddism, Hinduism, Islam
and Sikhism- are totalizing in character, claiming all of a follower’s life, so that religion is
constitutive of society. Madan further argues that in Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam and Sikhism
the relationship between the sacred and secular is hierarchical. Thus in Buddhism for example,
the ‘Bhikkhu’ or the world renounces is superior to the ‘Chakravatti’ or world conqueror.33
Similarly in every Sikh Gurudwara the sacred sword Is placed for veneration at lower level than
the holy book, the Granth Sahab, which Is the repository of the word, shabad despite the fact
that for the Sikhs, the sword too symbolized the divinity, or more accurately, the inseparability
of the spiritual and the religious functions. Madan cites illustrations from both Hinduism and
Islam too,-
Authenticity and Derivativeness : 31 8
He quotes M uhammad Iqbal* “In Islam the spiritual and the temporal are not two distinct
domains... The ultimate reality according to the Quran is spiritual, and its life consists in its
temporal activity. The spirit finds its opportunities in the natural, the material, the secular. All
that is secular is therefore sacred in the roots of its being. . .There is no such thing as a profane
world. . . all is Holy Ground.”^'^
Similarly in Hinduism, the discrete realms of interest and power (Artha), are opposed to
and yet encompassed by Dharma-that informs every action-the sacred and the secular. For
Madan the search for secular elements in the cultural traditions of this (South Asia) region is
a futile exercise, for it is not these but an ideology of imported secularism that is absent ( in
South Asia) and is resisted.^® Secularism is for Madan, a gift of Christianity-post Reformation-
Protestant Christianity and has been built into Western social theorist’s paradigms of
modernization, and since these paradigms are believed to have universal applicability, the
elements that converged historically... to constitute modern life in Europe in the 16 th century
and the following three centuries have come to be presented as the requirements of
modernization everywhere.... Models of modernization, (however), prescribe the transfer of
secularism to non-western societies without regard for the character of their religious traditions
or for the gifts that these might have to offer. . .(and) borrowed ideas, unless internalized, do not
have the power to bestow on us the gift and grace of living.^®
Ashis Nandy calls himself an anti secularist because he “feels that the ideology and
politics of secularism have more or less exhausted their possibilities”.®’’ For him secularism
has two meanings current in modern and semi modern India-the first secularism -chalks out
an area in public life where religion is not admitted. Implicit in the ideology is the belief that
managing the public realm is a science that is essentially universal that religion, to the extent
it is opposed to the Baconian world image of science, is an open or potential threat to any
modern polity. In contrast the non western meaning of secularism revolves around equal
respect for all religions. It implies that while the public life may or may not be kept free of
religion, it must have space for a continuous dialogue among religious traditions and between
the religious and the secular-that in the ultimate analysis, each major faith In the region
includes within it an in house version of the other faiths both as an internal criticism and as a
reminder of the diversity of the theory of transcendence. While India’s Westernized intellectuals
have consciously opted for the abolition of religion from the public space, most non modern
Indians pushed around by the political and cultural forces unleashed by colonialism still operating
in Indian society, have unwittingly opted for the accommodative and pluralist meaning.®®
The point of departure then, for Nandy too, is India's imposed modernity and he fears
the accelerating process of modernization in India as a consequence of which there is, in his
words “a cleaner fit between the declared ideology of the modern Indian nation-state and the
secularism that fears religious ethnicities."®®
319
Developing Rural Poor Through Micro Finance :
Associated with this is hidden political hierarchy is a four-fold classification of the
political actors of the subcontinent. At the top of the hierarchy are those who are believers
neither in public nor in private. They are supposed to be scientific and rational and they are
expected to ultimately not only rule-this society but also dominate its political culture. To this
category belongs Jawaharlal Nehru. On the second rung of the ladder are those who choose
not to appear as believers in public despite being devout believers in private. Nandy places
Indira Gandhi here. On the third rung are those who are believers in public but do not believe
in private. Mohammad Ali Jinnah and V.D. Savarkar as well as Ambedkar (when he converted
to Buddhism) are illustrious examples. At the bottom of the hierarchy are those who believe in
public as well as private. The best and Nandy says - most notorious-example is that of
Gandhi who openly believed both in public and in private and gave his belief spectacular play
in politics.
Nandy believes that as India gets modernized religious violence is increasing and this
is so because our society is losing the traditional ways of life, to the onslaught of modernization,
which have over the centuries developed internal principles of tolerance. It is these principles
that must have a play in contemporary politics, religious communities in traditional societies
have known how to live with each other.
It is not modern India which has tolerated Hinduism in India for nearly two thousand
years, Christianity from before the time it went to Europe and Zoroastrianism for over twelve
hundred years. It is traditional India which has shown such tolerance. For Nandy, Asoka,
Akbar and Gandhi- derived their tolerance not from secularism but from Buddhism, Islam and
Sanatan Dharma (Hinduism).'^''
The moral of the story for Nandy is this - “It is time to recognize that, instead of trying
to build religious tolerance on the good faith pr conscience of a small group of de-ethnicized,
4 middle class politicians, bureaucrats, and Intellectuals, afar more serious venture would be to
explore the philosophy, the symbolism and the theology of tolerance In the faiths of the
citizens.
Why is it then that the Nehruisan vision of a secular India failed to take hold? - the
answer is that there was something deeply flawed with the vision itself-that it represented an
alien imposed modernity not in consonance with the daily lives and belief patterns of the
multitudes, was not authentic enough.
Ill
We then have two discourses the derivative discourse and the authenticity discourse.
Is it possible to see the limitations of the authenticity discourse as well? Yes it is. Akeel
Bilgrami offers the following criticism. This discourse is Ashis Nandy’s nostalgia for bygone
pre-modernism, based on a faulty historiography, placing the fault line at the initiation of
Authenticity and Derivativeness : 320
modernity by the secular Nehruvian state. For him the processes of communal fission are pre-
modern originating in the Brahmanical construct of the relationship of the sacred and the
secular and in the use by the British of these interna! fissions. For him, Nehruvian secularism
is indeed an imposition-but an imposition in the sense that it assumed that secularism stood
outside the substantive arena of political commitments. !t failed because it was not there with
Hinduism and Islam as one among substantive contested political commitments to be negotiated
as any other contested commitment must be negotiated one with the other.'*^.
Nehru failed to provide a creative dialogue between communities, he refused to let a
secular policy emerge through negotiation between different communitarian voices by denying
at every step in the various conferrings with the British, Jinnah’s demand that the Muslim
league represent the Muslims-a Sikh leader represent the Sikhs, and a Harijan leader represent
the untouchable community. The ground for this denial was simply that as a secular party
they could not accept that they did not represent all these communities.'^'^
Nehru and Jinnah fell out with each other personally too-and held each other in
considerable contempt. Khushwant Singh places the blame for over a million deaths and the
rendering homeless of several millions, during the sub continental partition, squarely on the
blunder they both made.45 What then is the danger in relying solely on the traditional ability
of communities to generate wise socio-religious tolerance?
Nietzche has said-
“Not only the wisdom of the centuries-also iheir madness breaketh out in us. Dangerous
is it to be an heir.”
When communities, bound by ethical visions of the good and possessing a core of
substantive values, coexist peacefully, they add to the richness of human existence-when
they conflict with one another the battle that ensues leads to endless destruction."^® The
inability of the authenticity discourse to transcend parochialism and occupy the national
consciousness is as visible as the inability of the derivative to include the traditional in its
formulations."*^
It is perhaps in between these two that India must renegotiate with the sacred and the
secular; struggle to find new meaning.
Notes and References :
1. Madan, T.N., ‘Secularism in its Place’, in Rajeev, Bhargava (ed) “Secularism and its
Critics,” OUP, New Delhi, 1998. p.298.
2. Berger, Peter L., The social Reality of Religion, Alien lane, London, 1973, p.113.
3. Nehru recalls in his Autobiography that when he was a child, religion seemed to be a
woman’s affair, which his father and other men in the house refused to take seriously.
321
Developing Rural Poor Through Micro Finance :
Nehru, J.L., “An Autobiography”, 1980, (1936)OUP, p.8
4. Nanda, B.R. The Nehrus-Motilal and Jawaharlai, Allen and Unwin, London, 1962,.p.41 .
5. Sender, Henry, The Kashmiri Pandits: A Study of Cultural Choice in North India, OUP,
Delhi, 1988.
6. Ibid, p.295
7. Nanda, op.cit, p.41
8. It has been recorded that Motilal used to tease both his wife and Gandhi about their
religiosity see-Nanda op.cit - p.41 and Akbar, M.J. Nehru-the Making of India, Viking,
London, 1988, p.229.
9. Nehru, An Autobiography, op. cit, p.374
1 0. Nehru, Jawaharlai, Selected works of Jawaharlai Nehru (SWJN) vol. 3, Orient Longman,
New Delhi 1972, p.233.
1 1 . Nehru, Jawaharlai, The Discovery of India, Asia Publishing House, Bombay, 1 960 (1 946)’,
p.14.
12. Nehru, Jawaharlai, SWJN, vol. 4, Orient Longman New Delhi, 1973a., p.188
1 3. Nehru, Jawaharlai, SWJN, vol. 4, Orient Longman New Delhi, 1 973 b, p.203
14. Nehru, Jawaharlai, The Discovery of India, op.cit, p.524
15. Nehru , J.L. SWJN, 1973 b op.cit, p.282
16. Nehru, J.L, SWJN, vol. 7 1 975, New Delhi, Orient Longman p.1 90.
17. Nehru, J.L, SWJN, Vol. 14, Orient Longman New Delhi p.187. The Viceroy, Lord Wavelt,
recorded in his Journal on 14th July 1945, “The theme of Nehru’s discourse was that
Pakistan was a narrow medieval conception; and that the eventual cleavage when India
freedom was secured would be between the classes rather than communities, between
poor and rich between peasant and landlord, between labourer and employer” - Wavell,
A.P.,The Viceroy’s Journal, Penderel Moon, (ed.)OUP, Delhi, 1977, pp.155-156.
•18. Malraux, Andre, Antimemories, Hamish Hamilton, London, 1968, p.145.
1 9. Gopal, Sarvapalli (ed.) Jawaharlai Nehru: An Anthology, OUP, Delhi, 1 980, p.330-331
20. “In many parts of the world, the people can do nothing for themselves which requires
large means and combined action: all such things are left undone, unless done by the
State”, John Stuart Mill, Principles of Political Economy, 11, pp.602-3 quoted in de
Schweinitz, Jr, 1983; 125.
21 . Nehru, Jawaharlai, Discovery of India, New York, John Day, 1 946, p.387.
22. Ibid. There are innumerable places in Nehru’s work where he says quite categorically
that communalism has nothing to do with religion, that its causes are partly economic
and partly political and if the economic problems are solved and foreign power removed.
Authenticity and Derivativeness : 322
there would be no communalism any more. For example- “Fundamentally this communal
problem is a problem of the conflict between the members of the upper middle class
Hindus and Muslims for jobs and power under the new constitution. It does not affect
the masses at all. Not a single communal demand has the least reference to any
economic issues in India or has the least reference to the masses”.
Discussion with the India Conciliation Group in London, February 4, 1 936, SWJL Volume
7,pp.96-97
23. Nehru, Jawaharlal, Discovery of India, op.cit., p.387.
24. Nehru, Jawaharlal, An Autobiography, op.cit., 1 38.
25. Ibid. p. 462.
26. Ibid, p.465.
27. Ibid. pp. 466-467.
28. Ibid. pp. 467-468.
29. Sen, Amartya, 'Secularism and its Discontents’, in Rajeev, Bhargava (ed) Secularism
and its Critics, OUP, New Delhi, 1998, pp.454-485.
30. Madan, T.N., ‘Secularism in its Place’ op.cit pp.297-320
31. Ibid,p.298.
32. Ibid.
33. Ibid 303
34. Igbal, Mohammad, The Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam, New Taj Office,
Delhi, 1980, p. 154-155
35. Madan, op.cit, p.306
36. Ibid p.307-308
37. Nandy, Ashis, ‘The Politics of Secularism and the Recovery of Religious Tolerance’ in
Rajeev, Bhargava (ed.) op.cit pp.321-344.
38. Ibid p.326-327
39. Ibidp.328
40. lbidp.328-330
41. lbldpp.336-337
42. Ibidp.338
43. Bilgrami, Akeel, ‘Secularism, Nationalism and Modernity’, in Rajeev, Bhargava (ed.)
op.cit pp.360-41 7
44. Ibidp.395
323
Developing Rural Poor Through Micro Finance :
45. Singh, Khushwant, ‘With Malice Toward One and Ail’, Hindustan Times, English Daily,
Oct. 22, 2005. Singh says “comparisons between Nehru and Jinnah are pertinent. Both
were nationalists and indifferent to their religions. Nehru, born a Hindu was an agnostic
and never visited temples. Jinnah was a Shia Muslim who never went to a mosque, did
not know how to perform the namaaz and never fasted during Ramazan. Both ignored
religious taboos against certain kinds of food and drink. Nehru ate all kinds of meat with
a glass of wine and a cigarette to follow. Jinnah liked a glass of sherry with a ham
sandwich, followed by a Havana Cigar. After he lost his wife, Nehru had several lady
friends. Jinnah married a Parsi and made an indifferent husband. Many maulanas
condemned him as a Kafir. Both men were trained to be lawyers. Nehru did not set up
legal practice and became a full time politician. Law was Jinnah’s first love, politics
came second. He loved to win cases. He won the argument in favour of the creation of
Pakistan. Nehru and Jinnah had one thing in common-they hated each other. Nehru did
his best to steal Muslim masses from Jinnah’s Muslim League in favour of the Congress.
He failed miserably and agreed to let Jinnah get his Pakistan to be rid of him. Jinnah
was landed with the baby that he had sired but really did not want. He wanted to live in
his mansion in Bombay. Both men thought once Muslims got the state they wanted,
both India and Pakistan would be freed of communal tension and live at peace with each
other. Both men were woefully wrong in reading the future. Millions were rendered
homeless, over a million died for the blunder they’d made.
46. Bhargava, Rajeev, ‘What is Secularism For?’ in Rajeev, Bhargava, (ed.) op.cit-pp.406-
542.
This is similar to the inability of the derivative leadership to respond to the needs of the
traditional local community (Nehru-vs a vs Ramachandra in Kisan Movement leadership
analysis of Awadh - 1 91 9-22) and the inability of the authentic leadership of Ramchandra
to rise to the national level. - Paper entitled, ‘Authenticity and Derivativeness-A Study
of the leadership of the Kisan Sabha Movement in Awadh’, of the present author.
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The Indian Journal of Political Science
Vol. LXVIil, No. 2, Apr.-Jun., 2007
CORRUPTION IN HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE :
A CASE OF INDIA
Anm Kr. Agrawa!
One begins to wonder whether we are the same who rode to freedom with truth and
sacrifice as our motto. By adopting an holistic approach and by co-opting all the
principal actors in the process of anti-corruption reform, a country or community can
enhance its capacity-to curtail corruption to manageable levels. But none of this can
be tackled without enlightened and determined political leadership, without high levels
of public awareness and support, and without a motivated and well-led private sector.
In many countries, the most difficult element in the equation is that of developing a
vibrant evil society willing and able to play a meaningful role in shaping its environment.
We belong to the land of Gandhiji for whom truth and non-violence were the fundamental
principles of existence. Going back in time 2000 years, I quote the Vedic dictum, 'Satyam
vadhadharmam charah'. Our nation's motto is Satyameva Jayate. Therefore, at the level of lip
service, we are all for truth and honesty. Our government believes that truth will prevail and all
our religions advocate that we should tell the truth. But, the reality is that India is one of the
most corrupt countries in the world.
Nobody really knows the exact-extent of corruption in India. However, everybody is
aware that it is all pervasive and that it is eating inexorably in to the vitals of the nation. If
corruption, graft and nepotism are not checked in time, there is no doubt that the future of
democracy is in peril. To those of us who are aware of the high standards of morality that
prevailed before, and soon after, India became an independent nation, the comparison is
indeed heartbreaking. Out looks in vain for uprightness, efficiency, excellence and devotion to
duty which characterized the administration of former times. One begins to wonder whether
we are the same who rode to freedom with truth and sacrifice as our motto. By adopting an
holistic approach and by co-opting ail the principal actors in the process of anti-corruption
reform, a country or community can enhance its capacity-to curtail corruption to manageable
levels. But none of this can be tackled without enlightened and determined political leadership,
without high levels of public awareness and support, and without a motivated and well-led
private sector. In many countries, the most difficult element in the equation is that of developing
a vibrant evil society willing and able to play a meaningful role in shaping its environment.
Every one knows what corruption is; but it is difficult to define it in exact terms.
According to the Oxford English Dictionary\ the word 'corrupt' means "influenced by
bribery, especially at the time of elections". Encyclopaedia Britannica^ says a corrupt practice
" includes bribery; but-has reference to the electoral system". But these, as will be seen, are
not definitions.
326
The Indian Journal of Political Science
Corruption has been defined by the World Bank as the 'use of public office for private
profit', in our country, there are five major players on the corruption scene, interdependent,
strengthening and supportive of the vicious cycle. They are the neta, the corrupt politician; the
babu, the corrupt bureaucrat; the lala, the corrupting businessman; the jhola, the corrupt
NGO; and the dada the criminal of the underworld.
Corruption is a two-way street for every bribe taker, there is a bribe giver.
A straightforward definition would be-the abuse of public officer for private gain. Public office is
abused for private gain. When an official accepts, solicits, or extorts a bribe.
The word 'corruption' is generally defined in the context of specific normative standards.
Thus, according to the Santhanam committee^ the term includes all "improper or selfish
exercise of power and influence attached to a public office or to a special position one occupies
in public life". This definition covers value-loaded terms like 'improper', and selfish .
Corruption may be alternatively defined as unlawful practices. Thus, Section 1 61 of the
Indian Penal Code"^ defines corruption as follows:
"Whoever, being or expecting to be a public servant, accepts or obtains, or agrees to
accepts, or attempts to obtain gratification whatever, other than legal remuneration as a motive
or a reward for doing or forbearing to do any official act or for showing or forbearing to show, in
the exercise of his official functions, favour or disfavour to any person, with the Central or State
Government or Parliament or Legislature of any State or with any public servants as such. .
Section 161 aims at penalising simply the receipt of illegal gratification. Section 123 of
the Representation of the People Act, defines corruption as practised in relations to elections.
Section 5(1 ) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1 947 , defines criminal misconduct of a public
servant in the discharge of his duties in the following terms: A public servant is said to commit
the offense of criminal misconduct:
(a) If he habitually accepts or obtains or agrees to accept or attempts to obtain for himself
or any other person, any gratification (other than legal remuneration) as a motive or
reward such as is mentioned in Section 161 of the Indian Penal Code; or
(b) If he habitually accepts or obtains or attempts to obtain for himself or any other person
any valuable thing without consideration which he knows to be inadequate, from any
person, whom he knows to have been, or to be likely to be concerned in any proceeding
or business transacted or about to be transacted by him, or having any connection with
the official functions of himself or of any public servant to whom he is subordinate, or
from any person whom he knows to be interested in or related to the person so concerned,
327
Participatory Democracy in Indian Political System
or
(c) If he is dishonestly or fraudiently misappropriates or otherwise converts for his own use
any property entrusted to him or under his control as a public servant or allows any
other person so to do; or
(d) If he, by corrupt and illegal means or by otherwise abusing his position as public servant,
obtains for himself or for any other person any valuable thing or pecuniary advantage; or
If he or any other person on his behalf is in possession or has, at any time, during the period
of his office, been in possession, for which the public servant can not satisfactorily account, of
pecuniary resources or property disproportionate to his own income.
Corruption is a fact of life. It is as old as the human society itself. It exists in one form
or5 another in every society. According to Ralph Braibaniti, Governmental corruption is found
in a!! bureaucracy and in all periods of political development. But its degree is not uniform at all
times or under all conditions. "It is also obviously more common in some societies than in
others and more common at some times In the evolution of a society than at other times6".
To say that all was pure and idyllic in the early period of history will be travesty of truth.
History is replete with examples of widespread corruption in the oriental and occidental societies
during the ancient and medieval period.
During ancient times in Egyptian, Babylonian' and Herbrew societies judges did not
hesitate to receive bribes. Using their position as priests, the Sons of "Eii" extorted more than
their share of the sacrifices from the people?.
"The growth of corruption in Greece in the latter period of its history couid be attributed
to the increase in economic activity and the growth of political apathy. The vigorous and keen
interest which the Greek citizens used to display in the governance of the Greek city state
gradually waned as could be evident from their poor attendance at public meetings. With the
opening of new opportunities for speculation, bribery and corruption began to increase®".
in ancient Rome also corrupt practices prevailed. Bribery was a regular source of income
for those who were in charge of issuing contracts of public works. Bribery and corruption were
common features in election to public offices such as the Senate and the Court®.
in Rome, the prevalence of wide-scale corruption seems to have been "the consequence
of an unwieldy electoral system which derived from history'*® ".
Corruption was not approved by the Roman Republic. Person like Cicero who were
interested to reform the degenerate Republic made some attempts to unearth and bring to trial
The itidian Journal of Political Science 328
extreme cases of corruption^ ^ But it was too late for these attempts to succeed. The ethical
atmosphere of the Republic had already been polluted and limits considerably transgressed.
Corruption had become so common that corrupt practices, rather than the strict morals of the
forefathers, had become the accepted mode of behaviour^^.
During the medieval times corruption manifested itself in Rome in the form of extortion
of revenue by the local and central officials and the perversion of justice. Those who were in
the service of the kings and the perversion of justice. Those who were in the service of the
kings and feudal barons became instrumental in the collection of illegal money^^. Attempts to
regulate trade in accordance with the principles of the mercantile system and the continental
system produced well-developed mechanisms of smuggling in many cases aided by official
corruption^"*.
Corrupt practices developed in the common law courts of England. Judicial officers
were being sold in France during the fifteenth century.
Then came the period of exploration and colonization and, during the period, corruption
took the same form as under the Roman Republic. The governors of Spanish and Portuguese
provinces, who had absolute powers over their territories, amassed wealth for themselves, and
the central government, which was itself corrupt, could not punish the governors because they
were far removed from the capital city. The story of the East India Company officials amassing
vast fortunes by corrupt practices is well known.
Ancient Times :
Like other countries, India was not free form corruption during its ancient period. But
the extent of evil was certainly far less than what it is at present. A.L. Basham while writing on
the administration of justice in India observes: "Though judicial corruption is often referred to,
the standard set for judges and magistrates is very high, they are to be learned, religious,
devoid of anger, and as impartial as is humanly possible to prevent bribery. It is suggested
that no private interviews should be allowed between judges and litigants till the cases are
settled. The Arthasastra advises that the honesty of the judges should be periodically tested
by agent provocateurs, while the Vishnu Smriti prescribes banishment and forfeiture of all
property of a judge found guilty of corruption and injustice.
Kautiiya in his Arthasastra has written a chapter titled "Detection of what is embezzled
by government servants out of state revenue"^® which "reads like a modern official report on
modes of corruption and corresponding punishments"*®. He has mentioned about forty types
of embezzlement. They are: "what is realised earlier is entered later on;*^ what is realised .
later is entered earlier;*® what ought to be realised is not realised; not realised; what is hard
Participatory Democracy in Indian Political System 329
to realise is shown as realised;^® what is collected is shown as not collected; what has not
been collected is shown as collected; what is collected in part is entered as collected in full;
what is collected in full is entered as collected in part; what is collected is of one sort,^° while
what is entered is of another sort; what is realised from one source is shown as realised from
another; what is payable is not paid; what is not payable is paid; not paid in time;^'* paid
untimely;^^ small gifts made large gifts; large gifts made small gifts, what is gifted is of one
sort while what is entered is of another. The real donee is one while the person entered (in the
register) as donee is another; what has been taken in to (the treasury) is removed while what
has not been credited to it is shown as credited, raw materials that are not paid for are entered
while those that are paid for are not entered; an aggregate is scattered in pieces^^, scattered
items are converted in to an aggregate;^"^ commodities of greater value are bartered for those
of small value, what is of smaller value is bartered for one of greater value; prices of commodities
are enchanced; prices of commodities lowered; number of nights increased;^® number of
nights decreased; the year not in harmony with its months; the month not in harmony with Its
days; inconsistency in the transactions^® carried on with personal supervision; misrepresentation
of the source of income; inconsistency in giving charities; incongruity^^ in representing the
work turned out; inconsistency in dialing with fixed items; misrepresentation of prices of
commodities; making use of false weights and measures; deception in counting articles and
making use of false cubic measures such as Bhajana". Ashoka's dharmic state following
closely on the heals of Kautilya's times, must have had the minimum of corruption^®. Corruption
prevailed on a lower scale in India during the ancient period than during the ones that followed.
Medieval India :
The exaction of perquisites and presents was one of the gratest evils of medieval
administration in the East and the West alike^®. It may be useful to note how corruption
prevailed in medieval India under different dynasties that ruled the country at different times.
During the Khilji Rule in India corruption was rampant among the lower officials,
particularly those belonging to the department of revenue. Drastic measures were adopted to
check corruption. It was realised by Allauddin Khilji realized that the low salaries of the officials
tempted them to accept and even extort bribes. Therefore, he increased their salaries so that
they could lead a comfortable life. But when this measure did not improve the situation, and
corruption continued to prevail among the petty officials, the Sultan ruthlessly punished all
those found guilty of corruption. The punitive measures®® taken by Allauddin had a salutary
effect. It was no longer possible for any one to accept even one rupee from either a Hindu or a
Muslim as illegal gratification.
When the T ughlaq Dynasty was in power in India from 1 320-1 41 4, corruption prevailed
The Indian Journal of Political Science
330
in the form of nepotism. Until the time of Feroz Shah Tughlaq the appointments were not on
hereditaty basis but on efficiency which was the chief criterion for getting in to office31 . Qualified
and talented persons, even foreigners, were appointed in different services. However, criteria
like efficiency and merit, the basis of recruitment of Public Personnel, were ignored by Feroz
Shah Tughlaq. He introduced the hereditary element in the imperial and provincial services.
Father was succeeded by his son in almost all the branches of government. As the altar of
hereditary and nepotism, efficiency was sacrificed: "The parts of the machinery became loose
and its wheels needed oiling under Feroz Shah and were clogged occasionally during the
period of civil wars following his death.
During the reign of Muhammad Bin T ughlaq the Superintendents or undertakers, before
inaugurating or undertaking a scheme, were rewarded by the king with "caparisoned horses,
rich robes of honour and estates." Large sums of money were also paid to them to launch new
projects. The undertakers also paid to them to launch new projects. The undertakers had
received seventy million "tangas" as rewards. But on the expiry of the stipulated period of
three years it was found that little of what had been promises was done®^ When the undertakers
found it difficult to make their ends meet, they appropriated for their own use all that they had
received from the king^^.
Mr. J.R.B. Jeejeebhoy gives a vivid accound of corruption under various rulers in the
centuries that followed the downfall of the Maurian Empire in his book, Bribery and Corruption
in Bombay (1952). Says Alexander Hamilton in his New Account of the East Indies (1774):
"The Mohammadans have the law in their hands and distribute ‘Justice best to those who pay
best for it. The judge's fees are twenty-five percent on all sums that he pronounces due to the
party whose plea is best supported by bribes or interest, for the justice of the cause seldom
prevails". (Cited in Jeejeebhoy's book, p.3).
Corruption was rampant in the Mughal Empire, even in the heyday of its glory. Of
conditions towards the end of the sixteenth century Sir Thomas Roe wrote: "the people of
India live as fishes do in the sea the great ones eat up the little. For first, the farmer robs the
peasant, the gentleman robs the farmer, the greater robs the lesser, and the king robs all".
Francisco Peisart, Chief of the Dutch factory at Agra, wrote in 1 626 as follows:
'The second scourge is the oppression of the Governor, nobles, Diwan, Kotwal, Bakshi,
and other imperial officers. If one of these wants a workman, the man is not asked if he is
willing to come, but is seized in his house or in the street, well beaten if he should dare to
raise any objection, and in the evening paid half his wages, or perhaps nothing at ail".
This was far worse than corruption, for the victim sacrificed money and got nothing in
return except that he was thoroughly thrashed.
331
Participatory Democracy in Indian Political System
About corruption during the days of the Portuguese, an official report of 1 542 said:
"Justice was sold at the tribunals, and the most in famous crimes escaped punishment
when the criminals were affluent enough to corrupt the judges. All methods of accumulating
wealth were considered lawful, and extortion was openly advocated."
^ During Colonial Days
During the British rule in India there was almost systematic corruption involving almost
all officials starting from the Governor down to the lowest revenue official "making hay while
the sun of British Raj shone"^*^. From the days of dive and Hastings down to a comparatively
recent period bribery and corruption were prevalent even among the highest and "were literally
winked at by the Government"^^. It may be said that from the Governor down to the meanest
factor people came to India not for the "good but for the "goods" of the country"^®.
j Things must have greatly improved in India some time often the establishment of direct
rule by the British Crown. British rule, there is no doubt, tried to reduce corruption and kept at
least the top officers of the administration free from temptation and corruption by paying them
adequate salary. The Islington Commission laid down the principle of public salaries thus:
"The only safe criterion is that government should pay so much and so much and so
( much only to their employees as is necessary to obtain recruits of the rights stamp, and to
i maintain them in such a degree of comfort and dignity as will shield them from temptation,
i etc."
!
i’ While there was practically no corruption in the ranks of the "Imperial” (or Secretary of
State's) Services, the incidence of corruption increased in the lower rungs of the ladder of
public-administration.
I The laissez-faire policy of he government, which limited the activities of the state to the
I barest minimum, was partly responsible for reducing-corruption during the early days of British
I rule in India.
I
I Under the British rule in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, corruption and nepotism
if
L wove a strange pattern. The pattern was contradictory too. Certain sections of the administration
I such as police, irrigation, and public works were singularly free from corruption. At the lower
f level of the administration, acceptance of routine benefits, particularly if they could be obtained
without under resentment, was scarcely considered corruption. If a policeman visited a village
in response to a call, it was tacitly assumed that he would be fed well and given accommodation
/ for the duration of his stay. But a senior officer on tour was not to accept food or services "not
even a bundle of grass for his horse", without payment.
The Indian Journal of Political Science
332
'There was a stern rule of conduct forbidding acceptance of even small gifts by a
responsible officer. Young probationers of the Indian Civil Service were constantly reminded of
the rules and rebuked, some times reprimanded, if they were found to have accepted, even
unwillingly, a gift as trivial as a small melon or a glass of butter milk"^''.
Independent India
The situation has completely changed after the British left India. Britons who exercised
authority in India were only a few in number, represented an autocratic regime, and were not
exposed to the same kind of family and caste pressures which their Indian successors are
subject to constantly. The area over which their administration touched the lives of the people
was also limited. There's was a 'law and order regime' administering a country with a stagnant
agricultural economy. The scope for corruption as well as temptations was limited. The British
could therefor, evolve an impersonal law and enforce it by and large impersonally. They could
afford to adopt a sanctimonious attitude on the subject. Indians, on the other hand, have
traditionally, accepted corruption and nepotism with a certain amount of resignation.
Resentment is felt and expressed only. When there is high-hendedness or corruption is
excessive. "In the Indian set of common values, it is generally assumed that those who
exercise authority or happen to be close to those who do so must be entitled to privileged
position and that, up to a point, their indiscretion must be overlooked.®®.
The damage that public toleration of corruption and nepotism caused under the British
rule was limited. The economy was primitive, and only a segment of the population came in
contact with public authorities. Official corruption therefor, touched their livestut rarely and
briefly. In independent India, however, the government and its numerous agencies disburse
vast funds and patronage and it decisions affect the citizen's life more intimately.
With the advent of independence and the beginning of economic planning, the corruption
front opened up for large-scale escalation. Because of its very nature, we have no systematic
information of the shape or size of the monster of corruption and graft, but by all accounts they
are truly formidable. The Central and State governments publish, from time to time, reports of
the number of officers of various ranks arrested, prosecuted, convicted, fined, failed, etc. and
though the figures published are themselves substantial, they obviously reflect only a very
small fraction of the incidence of corruption by government officials. Even so, the list of officers
proceeded against is very impressive. Secretaries to government, commissioners, heads of
departments, chief engineers, superintending engineers, executive engineers, superintendents
of police, circle inspectors of police, sub inspectors of police, circle inspectors of police, sub
inspectors of police, superintendents and clerks in government offices, staff of hospitals and
almost every other government official fill the roll call of honor. We hear also, from time to time,
Participatory Democracy in Indian Political System 333
of prima face cases of corruption established against Ministers and ex Ministers in inquiries
by commissions, but the impact of the conclusions on such cases gets lost in the inevitable
protraction and indecisions that are characteristic of such inquiries.
Corruption in Present India
‘Corruption by Public Servants has now reached a monstrous dimension in India and its
tentacles have started grappling even the institutions created for the protection of the Republic.
Unless these tentacles are intercepted and impeded from gripping the norma! and orderly
functioning of public officers, through strong legislative, executive as well as judicial exercises,
the corrupt public servants could even paralyse the functioning of such institutions and thereby
hinder the democratic polity.
- (Supreme Court of India (2001 )
Consequently, in India, corruption has become a social phenomenon. There is hardiy
any area of activity that has remained wholly free from the impact of corruption. In fact, the
corruption has now been institutionalised and has become a commonly accepted way of life.
For the last several years there has been growing indication that corruption has stormed
ail aspects of our public life. It was becoming obvious that corruption was no longer a question
merely of individual moral turpitude. Now it has become so widespread that it was starting to
eat into the vitals of our economy, our polity and our society. From top to bottom, Prime-
Minister to a peon, cutting across every office or organisation of all Governments, Central,
State or local, the vast majority of public officials In this country have become corrupt.
India is rated as one of the most corrupt countries in the world. It is ranked 69 out of 90
countries in the Corruption Perception Index, which is published by the Transparency
International, a NGO in Berlin. The least corrupt country at rank one is Finland and the most
corrupt is Nigeria.
India has lost many of its noble values and goals. Now the people have become greedy
and with huge amounts of unaccounted black money indulge in extravagance and vulgar
display of wealth. These filthy rich by their spending spree have been influencing the decision
making authorities and subverting and corrupting the social and political system. The democratic
system that has emerged is not strong enough in fighting the sinister Interest, which accumulate
and multiply the ill-gotten money surreptitiously. The major cause for the perpetuation of such
sordid practices is due to the general apathy, passivity and totally indifferent attitude towards
the corrupt and corruption. The courage to stand against corruption has become rare because
dissent and protest lead to suffering and anguish. As the nation celebrates the golden jubilee
of its independence, there arises a big doubt on the credibility of own democratic institutions.
The Indian Journal of Political Science
334
A fairly large section of society seems to have lost faith in the fairness and impartiality of the
entire system of governance, independence, fairness and impartiality seem to have become
an enigma without proper functioning of democratic institutions. “It is indeed incredible that
during the last decade or so the country’s moral, mental and material resources have been
expended on a series of highly outrageous financial scandals which have frittered away our
energy, sullied our image and greatly hampered own growth as vibrant society”. A plethora of
scams and scandals stained the democratic fabric of India where a nexus among politicians,
bureaucrats, media persons, underworld mafia and criminals is being exposed. A weak system
manned by languid leaders is vulnerable to pressures and temptation.
As a matter of fact, we have not seen corruption in all its awesome forms. All that we
get, from time to time, is a brief glimpse of some part or other of this elusive, but nevertheless
all pervading, affliction of the body politic which threatens to throw the entire administration of
the country in to confusion and chaos. Corruption has spread its tentacles to every nook and
corner of public life. It thrives at the cost of the public and oppresses the poor, who can not join
the game, to the point of desperation.
The social conscience of an average Indian is weak. Apparently, the family and the
caste or the community in which he lives make such exacting demands on his loyalty-and
affections that he is left with little inclination to concern himself with issues and problems
concerning areas beyond. National problems, like corruption therefore, arouse his enthusiasm
to suppress or eradicate it only mildly and temporarily.
If urgent and stern measures are not taken to stem the rot, beginning with Ministers
downwards, there is every possibility that we shall be the next Country in the expanding list of
countries. Where corruption is the normal way of life and honesty a pitiful or, even laughable,
aberration. Nay, the cancer of corruption, in the proportions it has attained, may well dig in to
the vitals of our democratic state and eventually destroy it.
REFERENCES
1 . The concise Oxford Dictionary of Current English, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1 964
2. Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1929 Edition, London, P.472.
3. Government of India, Ministry of Home Affairs, Report of the Committee on Prevention
of Corruption. New Delhi, 1964, P.5.
4. Op. cit., Report of the Conrimittee on Prevention of Corruption, P.5.
5. Ralph Braibanti, "Reflections on Bureaucratic. Corruption" Public Administration, Winter,
London 1962, P.357
6. Huntington, op. cit., P.492.
335
Participatory Democracy in Indian Political System
7 . Senturia, op. cit., pp. 448-452; and Peter H. Odegard, '‘Political Corruption-United Sates",
Encyclopaedia of Social Sciences, op. cit, p.p.452-455.
8. M.Halaya, Emergency: A War on Corruption, S. ctiand and Co. (Pvt.) Ltd., Ram Nagar,
New Delhi, 1975, P.6.
9. Ibid., P.6.
10. Friedrich, op. cit., p.1 58.
11. Halayya, op. cit., p.6.
1 2. John Dickinson, Death of a Republic Politics and Political Thought at Rome, quoted in
Friedrick, op. cit, p. 132.
13. Halayya, op, cit., p.6.
14. Senturia, op. cit. P. 449.
15. Shamasastry, op. cit, pp.15-17.
16. Monteiro, op. cit., p.19.
17. Such as rice, etc.
18. Such as the late crops, wheat, etc.
19. Taxes from Brahmins.
20. Such as pulses in place of rice, etc.
21 . Not giving gifts on the occasion of marriages as ordered by the king.
22. Giving gift later with a view to force to receiver to give bribes to the officer or clerk.
23. Such as representing an assessment of 1,000 panas levied from a whole village as
small individuals assessments, making up the total in view of making use of a part of
the taxes for himself under the pretext of non-payment of the part. (Bottaswami's
commentary in Shamsastri, op. cit., p.1 7.)
24. Making ryotwar assessments as village-assessments.
25. With a view to misappropriate the wages due for the increased or decreased days. The
word "ratri" night, is used both for day and night. (Bottaswami's commentary).
26. Starting that a labourer has been paid outside the office, while in reality no such
payment has been made.
27. As in the case of superintendent of boats misappropriating ferry dues under the false
plea that only Brahmans crossed the river on a particular day.
28. R.C. Majumdar, Ancient India, Revised edition, Motilal Banarasi Das, Delhi, 1 960, p.1 1 3.
29. J.N. Sarkar, Mughal Administration, M.C. sarkar and Sons, Ltd., Calcutta, 1935, p.83.
30. Punishments were severe and barbarous. “Decapitation, mutilation of limbs, putting an
offender in to fetters were common forms of punishment given to the culprit or wrong
The Indian Journal of Political Science
336
doers. Flogging was also very common. Often persons received stripes. It was usual to
spill blood on trivial occasions and for small crimes to mutilate and torture them by
cutting off the hands and feet, and noses and ears, by putting out eyes, by pulverizing
the bones of the living criminals with mallets, by burning the body with fire, by crucification
and by nailing the hands and feet, by flaying alive, by the operation of hamstring and by
cutting human beings in to pieces. Toutures were inflicted for extorting confession. The
fraudulent shop keepers who were found guilty of giving short weight were forced to
make up the deficiency from flesh chopped from their bodies. Stoning to death for
adultery, hanging of the body of the dead for days together on spear-head, and parading
it into the city were of common occurrence. Allauddin was extremely severe in punishing
the guilty: for offences like smuggling wine in to the city or drinking in public, the offenders
were imprisoned in abominable wells dug for that purpose. So horrible were these prisons
that many people died in them and those who escaped alive were completely shattered
in health. These wells were full or rats and snakes, Brokers in horse trade were furnished
to distant fortresses."
K.S. Lai, History of Khiijis, Asia Publishing House, New Delhi, 1967, p.188.
31. Agha Mahdi Husain, Tughlaq Dynasty, S. Chand and Co., New Delhi, 1978, p. 542.
32. Barani comments that " not even one hundredth, may be not even one thousandth, part
of the promise was performed. He adds that "unless Muhammad had died when he did,
in his expedition to Sind, not one of the undertakers would have survived his resentment."
33. Wolseley Haig (ed.). The Cambridge History of India, Vol. Ill, S. Chand and Co., New
Delhi, 1965, P. 161.
34. S.N. Dwivedi and G.S. Bhargava, Political Corruption in India, Popular Book House,
New Delhi, 1967, p. 7.
35. H. Harvey, Cameos of Indian Crime, quoted in J.R.B. Jeejebhoy, Sant Vartaman Press,
Bombay, 1952, p. 179.
36. Jeejebhoy, op. cit., p. 82.
37. Krishan Bhatia, "The Ordeal of Nationhood", Imprint, Nov., 1971, Bombay, P. 43.
38. Krishan Bhatia, op. cit., p. 43.
The Indian Journal of Political Science
Vol. LXVIll, No. 2, Apr.-June, 2007
IMPACT OF COALITION POLITICS ON CONSTITUTIONAL
DEVELOPMENT OF INDIA
Amrag Ratna
Coalition politics is not something very unique for students of parliamentary government.
Wherever no political party gets majority in the elections to the Lower or popular house
of legislature, a number of political parties join hands to form a coalition government.
This type of government is very common in Europe.^ The political factors responsible
for formation, shape, politics, continuation, dissolution, success and failures etc. of
coalition government are broadly referred to as coalition politics. Coalition politics
takes different form and makes different impact on various countries constitution
according to their social, cultural and economic conditions. It is therefore necessary
to have a prehand knowledge of the circumstances in which coalition politics started in
India and through which it passed.
introduction
Constitution of a country sets limits within which politics can be practiced but it does
not determine the actual nature of politics which is determined by a number of social, economic
& cultural factors which is why the same type of constitution gives birth to different types of
politics in countries with different socio-cultural milieu. On the contrary the politics of every
country has its impact on the course of its constitutional development, directly or indirectly,
formally or informally. The aim of this paper is to analyze the changes introduced by coalition
politics and assess their impact on constitutional developments.
Brief History :
Coalition politics is not something very unique for students of parliamentary government.
Wherever no political party gets majority in the elections to the Lower or popular house of
legislature, a number of political parties join hands to form a coalition government. This type of
government is very common in Europe."' The political factors responsible for formation, shape,
politics, continuation, dissolution, success and failures etc. of coalition government are broadly
referred to as coalition politics. Coalition politics takes different form and makes different
impact on various countries constitution according to their social, cultural and economic
conditions. It is therefore necessary to have a prehand knowledge of the circumstances in
which coalition politics started in India and through which it passed.
The history of coalition politics is closely associated with the downfall of the Congress
Party in Indian politics because it stated in the states and at centre both when the Congress
was defeated at polls perhaps explains why Congress was against participating in coalition
government at the Centre till 2004.
Coalition governments were first formed in states like UP, Haryana, M.P., Bihar etc.
after the downfall of the Congress in these states in the election held in 1967. These coalition
The Indian Journal of Political Science
338
governments were popularly known as S.V.D. (Samyukta Vldhayak Dal) governments. These
coalition governments ended the domination of Congress Party in state politics and provided
the opportunities for governance to opposite parties. These S.V.D. Governments were mostly
managed by the leaders of opposition parties who had no or little experience of governance.
Hence very soon these coalition governments earned bad names for themselves and were
equated in popular perception with indecision, delay, indiscipline, misuse of power and even
sale and purchase of M.L.A.’s. They became the symbol of political corruption, lust of power,
erosion of chief minister’s authority, decline in collective responsibility of cabinet etc.
Just as in the states, the coalition politics began at the centre with the defeat of Congress
Party in the 1 977 elections when the first Non-Congress government headed by Major]! Desai
was formed in New Delhi. Although technically this government was a one party (Janata
Party) government, actually it was a coalition government because the Janata Party was itself
a conglomeration of five political parties, i.e. Congress (O), Socialist Party, Bhartiya Lok Dal
(BLD), Jana Sangh and the Congress fro Democracy, (C.F.D.). Therefore, it functioned, faced
problems and died as a coalition government. Chaudhary Charan Singh formed another Non
Congress government with the outside support of the Congress in 1979 which fell within a
month necessitating mid-term poll in 1980 in which the Congress won and Indira Gandhi
returned to power. Again the Congress returned to power in 1 985 election in which her son
Rajiv Gandhi got % majority due to sympathy wave generated due to murder of Indira Gandhi
in 1 984. V.P. Singh formed another Non congress government in 1 989 with outside support of
left parties and BJP and Chandra Shekharformed one more non-congress government ini 990.
Both these governments were technically one party minority government formed with the
outside support of one or another political party.
The real coalition era dawned in 1 996 when the general election to the 1 1 th Lok Sabha
resulted in a hung Lok Sabha in which no party or combination of parties got majority.
As no party or combination of parties got majority, the President Dr. Shankar Daya!
Sharma invited Atal Bihari Vajpayee, the leader of the largest party to form the government
and prove his majority on May 31 . He was sworn in as Prime Minister on May 1 6. The motion
of confidence moved by him on 27th May was discussed for 1 0 hours on May 27 and 28. The
motion was, however, not put to vote as Vajpayee announced during the debate itself that he
was going to resign. He went straight from Parliament house to the Rashtrapati Bhawan and
submitted his resignation to the President on May 28 itself^. From May 29 to June 1 , Atal
Bihari Vajpayee government worked as caretaker government.
After the resignation of Atal Bihari Vajpayee on May 28, 1996, the president asked
P.V. Narsimha Rao the leader of the second largest party to form the government but he
Impact of Coalition Politics on Coalition Politics 339
deciined.^ Thereafter the President turned to the National front and the Left front for providing
alternative government.
The National Front and Left front made hectic efforts to find out a suitable person for
Prime Minister ship. First they tried to persuade V.P. Singh and Jyoti Basu to lead the
combination. When they refused, they agreed only on the name of H.D. Deve Gowda who not
member of any house at that time. The congress also offered it support to Deve Gowda. Many
writers have criticized the president for appointing Deve Gowda the leader of the united front
comprising 1 3 parties was sworn in as Prime Minister of the second coalition government on
June 1 , 1 9964 as asked by the president, he proved his majority in the Lok Sabha on June, 12,
through a motion of confidence.®
In very dramatic circumstance the Congress withdrew support from the Deve Gowda
government. As a result the government fell in a vote of confidence and he resigned on April
11,1 997®. Deve Gowda worked as care-taker Prime Minister for April 1 1 th to 21 , 1 997. The
Deve Gowda government was the first government at the centre to represent anti-upper caste
and anti-Brahmin forces. All parties moved away from their declared ideals. It was the first
government in which no upper caste people found any places. Southerners and backward
people dominated. It was really a federalist government, however, because of the composition
as the council of ministers, much was not expected.^
Deve Gowda government truly represented the composition of the Lok Sabha because
there was dominance of backward classes, dalits and Muslims in the Lok Sabha and Council
of Minister both, However, since the government depended on Congress support from outside,
people in general did not hope much from this government.® This proved true when the
government fell on April 1 1 . The Congress President Sita Ram Kesari who was annoyed with
Deve Gowda for some personal reasons, offered to support U.F. government it the front changed
the leader. The Congress had nothing against the government or its policies but was against
the leader.
After this offer of the Congress, United Front once again started the search for another
suitable candidate for Prime-Ministership. Again the process of elimination started. Several
names such as those of Y.K. Moopnar, Laloo Prasad Yadav, Mulayam Singh Yadav were
considered but each of them was opposed by strong groups and persons. Ultimately they all
agreed on the name of |.K. Gujaral who was foreign minister in the outgoing ministry of Deve
Gowda. Gujaral took oath of office on April 21 , 1 997 and formed the third coalition government
at the centre with outside support of the Congress.'*®
Prabhu Chawla, editor of “India Today” is of the opinion that Gujaral was never an
independent prime-minister and he had always to bow down before the allies in various matters
340
The Indian Journal of Political Science
like constitution of ministers, allotment of portfolios etc^^ Pritish Nandy says that he was too
good a man to be prime minister at that time.''^ Ram Bahadur Rai says that he was the first
prime minister who had no right to constitute his cabinet, Shekhar Gupta has branded him as
bonded Prime Minister. According to Bhawani Sen Gupta he was not a politician; Prime-
Ministership was thrust upon him. He lacked political courage to take lot of decisions.'*^
Still he could not satisfy SIta Ram Kesari who withdrew support from the government in
November 1 997. Gujaral resigned on November 28, since no party was in a position to form
the government, the President dissolved the Lok Sabha on December 4, 1 9971 6 and ordered
a mid-term poll which was held on February 16, 22, 28 and March 7, 1 998.
For fighting the mid term poll three political alliances came into being. B.J.P. entered
into alliance with Akali Dal, Shiv Sena, Haryana Vikas Party, Lok Shakti AIADMK, MDMK,
Janta Party, Samta Party, Biju Janta Dal etc., the Congress allied with Rashtriya Janta Dal',
Kerala Congress, lUML and Republican Party of India (RPI) and the national front consisted of
Janta Dal, Tamil Manila Congress, D.M.K. Telgu Desam (Naidu), C.P.I., c.P.I. (M), Samajwadi
Party, etc.
The election to the 1 2th Lok Sabha again resulted in a hung Lok Sabha. No Party or
alliance gained majority. However the B.J.P. led alliance emerged with 264 seats, as the
largest alliance in which B.J.P. had the largest number of seats (1 97). After hectic political
activities, it became clear that B.JP. alliance had more support and could form a stable
government. Hence the President invited Atal Bihari Vajpayee to form the government.
Vajpayee was sworn in as prime minister for the second time on March 19 , 19981 7 to
lead the fourth coalition government at the centre. Immediately thereafter Atal Bihari Vajpayee
started feeling the pangs of a coalition government. President, too was in a difficult position
Jayalalita started troubling Vajpayee from the day 1 and kept him on his toes on the one
pretext or another. The whole year 1998 passed as a period of black-mailing by allies supporting
Atal Bihari Vajpayee from inside or outside.^®
All parties supporting the government were putting one demand or another everyday
forcing Vajpayee for taking unworthy decisions or deferring decisions. However, when Jayalalita
put three demands i.e. to sack defence minister George Fernandes, reinstatement of sacked
Navy Chief Vishnu Bhagwat and setting up a joint parliamentary committee to probe into
allegation made by George Fernandes against Bhagwat19. Vajpayee did not yield and the
result was obvious. Jayalalita (the AIADMK) withdrew support from the government in the first
week of April. Hence the President asked Atal Bihari Vajpayee to seek fresh vote of confidence
Vajpayee government was defeated by one vote to April 1 7, 1 999 (269 votes in favour and 270
votes against the motion of confidence) 20. The remark of Church bill that one is enough was
Impact of Coalition Politics on Coalition Politics 341
proved true in this voting.^'' The Vajpayee government resigned immediately but was asked by
the President to continue til! the new government was formed.
The President tried to find out a leader who could form the next government but he
miserably failed in this attempt. The opposition parties which were able to remove Vajpayee
from power, could not form an alternative government because they could not agree on who
should lead the new government. Hence the President dissolved the 1 2th Lok Sabha on April
26,22 as no government could be formed, Vajpayee continued working as care-taker Prime
Minster till the formation of next government in October 1999.
After the dissolution of the 1 2th Lok Sabha, political parties started preparation for the
election for the 1 3th Lok Sabha. There was clear indication since 1 996 that the days of one
party dominance in parliament were over and the days of hung Parliament started. Hence two
main claimants of to the power, the B.J.P. and the Congress, set their feet on course of
^ coalition politics, the B.J.P. with full vigour and the Congress only half heartediy. The B.J.P.
formed a grand alliance of political parties as National Democratic Alliance (N.D.A.) on May
15, 1999. 23 Ata! Behari Vajpayee was elected leader of N.D.A. The main political parties
forming the alliance were Janta Dal (United) Samta Party, Lok Shakti Party, Shiromani Akali
Dal, Indian National Lok Dal (Haryana), D.M.K., MDMK, PMK, IMC, TRC, (All Tamil Naidu),
Biju Janta Dai (Orissa), Shiv Sena (Maharastra), Himanchal Pradesh Vikas Party (HP) etc.
Some other parties Telugu Desam and Trinamool Congress (West Bengal) assured support
from outside. The Congress reached electoral understanding with some political parties Al ADM K,
Rastriya Janta Dal (Bihar), Rastriya Lok Dal (U.P.), Kerala Congress, Muslim League etc. The
third alliance of left parties was already there. Some other parties like Samajwadi Party,
Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) etc. decided to face the election
f on their own without any alliance or understanding with other parties.
The election to the 1 3th Lok Sabha was held on September 5, 1 1 ,1 8, 25 and October 3.
The seats won by different alliance and parties were as follows:
1
NDA
299 (including 1 82 of B JP)
2
Left Alliance
43
3
Congress Led Alliance
1 37 (including 1 12 of Congress)
4
Others and independents
64 (including 26 of SP, 14 of B.S.P. and 5 independents
Total
543
This time the victory of NDA was so convincing that President K.R. Narayanan appointed
Ata! Bihari Vajpayee P.M. on October 11,1 999 without asking him to see any vote of confidence.
The Indian Journal of Political Science
342
Ata! Bihari Vajpayee was sworn in as prime minister for the third time on October 13,
1 99924 and formed the fifth coalition government at the centre. He successfully completed the
five year term as prime minister of a coalition government which in itself was record of sorts.
Atal Bihari Vajpayee got the Lok Sabha dissolved on February 6, 2004 a few months earlier
than due.2®
Atal Bihri Vajpayee successfully leading a coalition government for a full term performed
the rarest of rare feat in the annals of parliamentary government. He proved that coalition
government can be stable provided the parties forming the coalition observe coalition culture
and work within the limits set by the agenda of coalition government better known as Common
Minimum Programme (CMP). This besides several other factors led the Congress to think
and feel that coalition politics was the need of the hour. Hence it declared its willingness and
readiness to form coalition government. It, in fact, formed a coalition known as United
Progressive Alliance (UPA) to fight the 2004 parliamentary poll as an alliance.
In the 2004, election, UPA won the majority. Shortly, thereafter Sonia Gandhi was
nominated by the 19 Congress allies to be the next prime minister. But she declined to take
the national top post and instead nominated n eminent economist, former Union Finance
Minister and senior Congress leader, Dr. Man Mohan Singh for the post.^®This was approved
by the Congress parliamentary party and UPA partners. Hence he was sworn in as prime
minister on May 22, 2004 to lead the sixth coalition government at the centre.^^
Thus in all six coalition governments have been formed till this day, the sixth one led by
Man Mohan Singh is still working.
POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT
If we look at the working of coalition governments at the centre from 1 996 to 2006, we
shall not fail to identify certain political developments which have had deep influence on the
course of constitutional development and working of constitutional agencies and institutions.
Some of the very important among them are described below:-
(A) The tradition of outside support to a minority government started with Indira Gandhi who
took outside support from C.P.I. and others when her government became a minority government
after the Congress split in 1 969. Since then different prime minister from Indira Gandhi to Man
Mohan Singh who headed minority governments, took outside support from different parties
and dealt differently with the parties supporting from outside. Different political parties supporting
the minority government dealt with different prime minister differently according to the political
situations in which they (P.M.) were placed.
For example, Indira Gandhi, whose minority government heavily depended upon the
Impact of Coalition Politics on Coalition Politics 343
outside support of the C.P.I. and others, had to make compromises on many issues of policies
and programmes for surviving as prime minister. Ultimately, fed up with the pressure exerted
by these parties she dissolved the Lok Sabha in 1 970 and ordered fresh poll one year earlier
in 1 971 , instead of 1 972. Charan Singh, V.P. Singh, Chandra Shekher, Deva Gowda and I.K.
Gujral had to resign from the prime ministership when the parties supporting from outside
withdrew their support from the government, B.J.P. in the case of V.P. Singh and Congress in
the case of others. Narsimha Rao converted his minority government into a majority government
by persuading, pressurizing or purchasing some MP’s belonging to other parties notably
Jharkhand Mukti Morcha. According to Dr. Subhash Kashyap, the term of ninth Lok Sabha
(1 989-91 ) in which two minority governments were installed, was the period in which the great
institution of Lok Sabha sank to the lowest depths and rules and regulations of the house were
ignored. 28 However the ugly face of the outside support was visible only after 1996 when
prime ministers were forced to resign or make unhealthy compromises with the parties
supporting from outside. Outside support has emerged as an institution in the era of coalition
politics. Man Mohan Singh is surviving as prime minister on the outside support of left parties.
As an institution, the outside support has proved a bane in Indian politics because it
affected the position of prime minister and functioning of government. Our experience with
outside support has not been very encouraging. In fact the aim of extending outside support to
a minority government was never pure. For example the aim behind CPI’s extending support
to the Indira Gandhi government in 1 969 was to strengthen the leftist elements in the Congress
led by Indira Gandhi. Similarly Indira Gandhi’s aim in giving outside support to Charan Singh
was not to enable Charan Singh to run the government but to make way for mid term poll.^®
Outside support has not had a good record in our parliamentary history. Venkataraman
says that “Indira Gandhi’s support to Charan Singh and her withdrawal of support within three
weeks were ugly precedents in our parliamentary history.’’^°
President Venkataraman was very cautious when Rajiv Gandhi offered outside support
to Chandra Shekhar in 1 990 in forming a minority government. He agreed to invite Chandra
Shekhar to form the government, when Rajiv Gandhi gave an assurance that he would not
withdraw support at least for a year. It was only after this assurance that the President became
convinced that Chandra Shekhar would form a viable government.^'' Hence, when Rajiv Gandhi
withdrew support from the government just after three months, the President was very sorry for
Chandra Shekhar. After the resignation of Chandra Shekhar in 1991 Rajiv Gandhi tried to
constitute new government with the outside support but he President declined.'^^
According to Madhu Li maye Charan Singh’s biggest mistake was to accept Indira
Gandhi’s treacherous support in 1997. Chandra Shekhar committed the same mistake in
The Indian Journal of Political Science
344
1 990.33 History repeated itself when Deve Gowda and l.K. Gujral accepted the outside support
of the Congress in 1 996 and 1 997 respectively and met the same fate. However the practice is
still continuing through Vajpayee government to Man Mohan Singh government: They accepted
outside support from T.D.P. and left parties respectively.
(B) Coalition poiitics has brought about significant change in the nature of our political
parties by forcing national parties like the Congress and the B. J.P. to come close to regional
and state parties like the D.M.K., the Akali Dal, the Telugu Desam, and the A.G.P. etc for the
purpose of forming government. This has, on the one hand enabled the national Parties to
better understand the local aspirations of the people which the regional and smaller parties
represent and promote and on the other, offered ample opportunities to smaller parties to
participate in decision making at the national level. In this way both regional and national
parties have been benefited. Both have become realistic and pragmatic in their approaches.
This has led to politics of compromise conciliation and consensus.
(C) Coalition politics has been a cause and an effect of hung Lok Sabha. The phenomenon
of hung Lok Sabha has influenced the functioning of several of our constitutional institutions
and created many administrative problems.^'*
(D) For historical reasons, coalition politics was born out of negative approach to politics.
Since no political party found itself able to defeat Congress, many parties opposed to the
Congress like Congress (O) etc. joined hands on anti-Congress front and formed the Janta
Party There was nothing common among these parties except that they were opposed to the
Congress party and Indira Gandih. So they followed anti-congressism to the extent to dismissing
nine Congress ruled states, dismissing governors and sending Indira Gandhi to jail. Similarly.
U.P.A. was born out of anti N.D.A. plank the only thing that is keeping U.P.A. united is anti
N.D.A. plank. This negative politics has given birth to certain very unhealthy trends in Indian
Politics such as political vendetta, witch hunting, misuse of investigative agencies, opening
and closing of criminal cases against political leaders with an eye on political gains, naming
and renaming of the schemes and institutions announced and reversing decisions taken by
the former government. The list is unending because it goes on increasing with the passage of
time. Moreover, the trend has percolated the states and local bodies at a great financial cost
to the people.
IMPACT ON THE WORKING OF THE CONSTITUTION
The above changes introduced in our body politic by coalition politics have influenced
the working of our Constitution in several aspects. We discuss below some of the most
important mongthem:
Impact of Coalition Politics on Coalition Politics 345
1. Our Constitution makers had hoped that in due course of time some constitution
conventions would be developed which would fill the gaps in the constitution and ensure
smooth working of our parliamentary system. Only a few conventions were developed during
one party Congress rule regarding the appointment of governors or constitutional responsibility
of ministers such as consultation with state governments regarding appointment of governors
or minister’s resignation due to some wrong done by his ministry. All these conventions have
been thrown to winds; persons with criminal records have been made ministers; staunch party
leaders have been appointed governors without any consultation with the state government.
But coalition politics has led to the emergence of some new conventions too. Both Atai Behari
Vajpayee and Man Mohan Singh have followed certain principles about consulting opposition
parties and coalition allies on policy issue which had led to the emergence of politics of
consensus. Side by side speakers, opposition parties and President have helped in the evolution
of some healthy conventions. Our President have been able to lay certain healthy conventions
in this era. The Presidents strictly followed the practice of inviting the largest party to form the
government. This was done in 1 989, 1 991 , 1 998 and 1 999, then it has also become a convention
of our constitutional arrangement to allow a care-taker government to get budgetary provisions
passed and all opposition parties pass them without any cut motion or amendment. Another
healthy convention developed during this era is that we allow a care-taker government to
function as a full fledged government if the country is facing any emergency. The care-taker
government of Atal Behari Vajpayee fought Kargil war with full vigour and confidence without
facing any disability of a care-taker government.
2. Some of the practices and conventions developed during coalition era have changed
the role and status of several legal and constitutional agencies in the Constitution such as
President, Governor. Leader of the House etc. For example they have changed the relation
between the President and the Prime Minister. In Pre-coalition era prime Minister was all
powerfull and the President behaved as a constitutional head of state; in coalition era, due to
weak and uncertain position of Prime Minister, Presidents have had courage to dictate to
Prime Ministers. For example, President Reddy did not allow Prime Minister Charan Singh to
address the nation after he failed to get majority support in the Lok Sabha. Similarly President
Venkatraman did not allow care-taker Prime Ministers. V.P. Singh and Chandra Shekhar to
use many a privilege of a regular Prime Minister36 and he also did not allow, as already
discussed. Rajiv Gandhi to form government with outside support after the resignation of
Chandra Shekhar in 1 990.
3. The Coalition politics has changed the nature of our parliamentary government. There
has emerged a new model of parliamentary government in which Prime Minister. Man Mohan
Singh is looking after administrative affairs and party president. Sonia Gandhi after political
The Indian Journal of Political Science
346
affaris.37 This has weakened the position of Prime Minister who, unlike pre-coaiition days,
suffers from many limitations in matters related to the composition and functioning of his
council of ministers. This process of weakening the position of Prime Minister started in 1 996
when Deve Gowda had to appoint the nominees of the coalition parties without que.stioning
and continued through Gujral and Vajpayee. In the present coalition government led by the
Congress, the position of Prime Minister has suffered further decline in that there is sharing of
Prime Minister’s authority between the Congress President Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister
Man Mohan Singh in which Sonia Gandhi occupies superior position.38 This superior position
of Sonia Gandhi has been variously referred to as de-facto Prime Minster 39 super Prime
Minister40 maximum prime minister’s authority, there has emerged a new pattern of
parliamentary government which is purely Indian in form and content both,
4. Coalition politics has highlighted some of the glaring inadequacies in our constitutional
arrangement. For example, firstly it has been made amply clear by recent developments that
the president is utterly helpless to check the political instability in the face of hung parliament;
the President can do no more than forming minority government and dissolving the Lok Sabha.
There is no end to the problem. Secondly the Constitution gives undue authority to the state
governments to go on ignoring, even challenging the authority of central government without
any punishment. Many state governments refused to implement a central legislation -POTA.
Thirdly article 365 (no doubt misused on certain occasions) which has been a potent force
hitherto, to discipline a recalcitrant state government has been rendered useless by the recent
developments. The union government imposed president rule in U.P. and Bihar but due to stiff
opposition from the President and Rajya Sabha, it had to retrace steps and the President’s
rule had to be withdrawn. In these circumstances, state governments have been behaving
irresponsibly. That is why it has been observed that the Indian Constitution breeds anarchy.42
5. Coalition politics has reemphasized the important of Rajya Sabha because as seen
above, a coalition government may cobble disparate parties to gain majority support and yet
may not be able to sail smoothly in the Rajya Sabha and may face rough weather there as I.K.
Gujral and Vajpayee governments did in the cases of U.P. and Bihar.
6. Coalition politics has started new constitutional practices and conventions to make the
government run successfully. Notable among them are Common Minimum Programme.
Coordination Committee, National Advisory Council, Vote of confidence etc. These institution
and practices have had important bearing on the relation between the President and P.M.
between the parliament and P.M. and between the P.M. and other constituents of coalition
government.
7. Coalition politics has clarified the position and character of care-taker government The
Impact of Coalition Politics on Coalition Politics 347
care taker government led by Atal Bihari Vajpayee fought Kargil war, imposed taxes etc. like
a regular government. Now it is accepted that a care-taker government suffers from no limitation
and can face any emergency like a regular government.
8. Coalition politics has strengthened our federal polity. State governments, which during
one party Congress rule, were treated like municipalities and their chief ministers like nominees
or appointees of central government acquired a new sense of importance and independent
identity as envisaged under the Constitution. Now the Union government is not in a position to
dictate to the state governments and change chief ministers at will. The state governments
are in a position to discuss various issues with the union government with new confidence and
force it to abandon its dictatorial attitude and reach compromise with the state governments
run by its allies or opposition parties. And when due to rigid or unbending attitude of either
union government or the state government a compromise could not be possible as in case of
Pota or school text books, the state governments followed a different policy from that of the
Union government.
PROBLEMS AND DANGERS
The coalition politics has created a number of problems for politics and administration
like delay in decision making and implementation, poor coordination at political level, erosion
of ministerial responsibility, wastage of time and resources in managing unmanageable ministers
and parties, instability, confusion in centre state relation, growth of extra constitutional centres
of power etc. Some of these are fraught with grave dangers for the future.
The growth of extra constitutional centres of power during coalition era R.S.S. during
Vajpayees period and chairman of the National Advisory Council during Man Mohan Singh’s
period has led to the weakening of Prime Minister’s authority. This is evident from the fact that
Man Mohan Singh is just a dignified proxy without enjoying the right to appoint or remove
members of either the prime minister’s office or the council of ministers.'*^ He is reported to be
helpless not only before the party President Soina Gandhi whose wishes he carries out most
faithfully but he also accepts the decisions and diktats of those said to have Sonia’s era.'^’^
This is pathetic and humiliating for any prime minister more so far an honest and efficient
prime minister like Man Mohan Singh. Moreover, it is dangerous for the country because now
major decisions are no longer in the domain of P.M.O., they are taken by U.P.A. chairperson.
45 A clash between the constitutional and the unconstitutional centres of power, which is not
unlikely would prove disastrous for governance.
The constitutional practices and institutions like Coordination Committee, National
Advisory Council have adversely affected the authority and functioning of Prime Minister and
his council of ministers. Most of the principles on which a parliamentary government functions
348
The Indian Journal of Political Science
such as leadership of prime minister, compact council of minister and their responsibility to
parliament, collective responsibility etc. have been undermined by the above institutions.
Many a time the decisions taken by the council of ministers are changed under pressure from
various quarters, notably coalition partners. The change in the government stand on
disinvestments in PSU is a pointer in this regard.
As prime minister of coalition government is always busy facifying and mollifying the
coalition partners, he finds little time to attend to the serious business of government with the
result that judicial intervention has increased in important segments of administration.46 The
recent judicial pronouncements on matters related to jhuggi, slumdwellers, sealing of
commercial establishments, etc may be cited as examples. In order to show their importance
in the government, the coalition partners have openly attacked the functioning of independent
constitutional and legal authorities like Election Commission, Comptroller and Auditor Genera!
of India (CAG), CBI etc. and charges of mala-fide intention and partiality have been leveled
against them. Members of council of ministers and speaker Somnath Chatterjee doubted the
authority of Supreme Court when the latter took cognizance and issued notices to Jharkhand
Governor regarding his role in government formation there. This trend to attack, belittle and
denigrate the independent constitutional agencies, which are watchdogs of government, poses
a grave danger not only to parliamentary government but also to democracy itself. Actually
ministers like Lalu Prasad Yadav are certain to wreck the system from within.47 The coalition
politics seems to be heading to an era of confrontation between the constitutional authorities.
Some of the recent observations and judgments of the Supreme Court like those related to
IMDT Act, Governor’s role in Jharkhand and Bihar and reservation in private unaided professional
colleges have created situations of confrontation between judiciary and executive. Giving vent
to its anguish the Supreme Court went to the extent of calling government intolerant and
incapable of understanding the importance of its judgments. A visibly hurt Chief Justice R.C.
Lahoti told Attorney General Milan K. Banerjee, ‘Tell us we will wind up the courts and then do
whatever you want.’"^® Similarly, feeling hurt and humiliated by some remarks of Lalu Prasad
Yadav regarding their impartiality and fairness election commissioner met the President to
register their protest and seek President’s help."^® Sri Krishanmurti, the then Chief Election
Commissioner, expressed concern over such attempt which may lead to politicization of the
Commission.^® Undesired and uncalled for controversy over Legislative versus judiciary was
initiated by the Speaker of the Lok Sabha himself in the backdrop of some of the observations
made and orders issued in respect of sittings of Jharkhand Assembly.^^ Similarly, there has
been a tendency on the part of government to govern by circulars and rules, if this is allowed
to continue, every new government will issue fresh guidelines and instructions. That would
result in chaos and poor governance.^^
Impact of Coalition Politics on Coalition Politics
WAT OUT
349
One party rule has become a thing of the past and we have to carry on with coalition
governments in future. Coalition governments, as we have discussed above, have created
many problems, which may prove dangerous, even catastrophic In certain situations In this
situation we are left with no choice but to find out ways and means to ensure smooth working
of coalition government in future. Various constitutional experts and leaders have come up
with a number of suggestions in this regard, A few of them are discussed below:-
1 - The Lok Sabha should have a fixed term so that it may not be dissolved before the due
date.^^ This would solve many problems- political administrative, financial and others which
are created by the uncertainty associated with likely dissolution of Lok Sabha.
2- Smaller regional political parties should be kept out of national politics because they
have more than often posed problems for good governance.^ As a factor the regional parties
create such individualistic syndrome as Karunanidhi-Jayalalita, Lalu Yadava-Mulayam Singh
Yadava, Mayawati and Mulayam Singh Yadava, Bal Thakre etc. who try to protect their individual
interests without any consideration for larger national interests. The regional parties moreover
always promote their regional agenda at the cost of national agends.®®
3- The President should stop the practice of asking a newly appointed Prime Minister to
seek vote of confidence in the Lok Sabha within a stipulated period of time. Experts are of the
view that there is no mention of vote of confidence in the Constitutior. or Law or even in the
Rules of Procedure and Conduct of business in the Lok Sabha. It is harmful in that it gives
unnecessary authority to the President to meddle in the organization and working of government.
Had the President not asked the Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee to seek vote of confidence
in 1 999, the fall of government by one vote and all that followed there after could have been
avoided. Constitutional experts feel that the President’s job is to appoint a Prime Minister who
in his opinion has majority in the Lok Sabha and is likely to give a stable government, it is not
his job to ask him (P.M.) to prove his majority in the Lok-Sabha and that it is right and duty of
the opposition to move a motion of no-confidence against a Prime Minister if it feels that he
does not have majority. A former President R. Venkatataman holds that the President should
not have asked Vajpayee to seek vote of confidence.®®
4- No-confidence motion should accompany with the name of the new Prime Minister in
case the motion is carried. Alarmed at the fall of Vajpayee government by one vote in 1 999
and failure of the opposition to be able to form an alternative government many eminent
people have come with such a suggestion, on the lines of such a practice in some of European
countries to ensure stability in the era of coalition politics The Law Commission in a radical
proposal has suggested that if a government fails by no confidence vote, the opposition leader
The Indian Journal of Political Science
350
automatically becomes the prime minister and forms the new government. N.M. Ghatate,
former chairman of law Commission, told reporters that the Law commission, basing its
recommendation on the German model, has suggested in its 170th report that a no-confidence
motion moved by opposition should be accompanied by a confidence motion reposing confidence
in the leader of the opposition. He said that the system would fit into the spirit of the Constitution
as it would not require any change or amendment of the constitution or any laws; it only
requires a minor change in Rule No. 198 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business
in the Lok Sabha.^^
5- The practice to extend outside support to minority or coalition government should be
discouraged. The cause of untimely death of the governments led by Charan Singh, V.P.
Singh, Chandra Shekhar, Deve Gowd and I.K. Gujral was the sudden withdrawal of the outside
support by B.J.P. in case of V.P. Singh and by the Congress in ail other cases,^® if the
withdrawal of outside support by the Congress was the cause of downfail of the coalition
governments of Deve Gowda and Gujral, the continuation of outside support by the left of Man
Mohan Singh is disastrous particularly to the economic reforms which are so badly needed to
take India forward as a global power.
6- The practice to appoint a jumbo cabinet to accommodate MP’s changing parties just
for political position and power should be banned by law. Thanks to the Atal Bihari Vajpayee
government, this objective has been already r chieved by 97th Constitution Amendment Act
enacted in 2003 which limited the size of Council of Ministers and debarred defectors from
joining the ministry. However politicians have found ways and means to overcome the limitations.
This should be looked into.
7- Since the governors are in very embarrassing position and face cross-firing from state
governments and Union government when they belong to different poiitical parties. It has been
suggested that clear cut rules should be framed regarding their appointment, tenure etc. so
that they do no not function under the threats of Union or State government. Governors like
□harm Veer, Romesh Bhandari, Sunder Singh Bhandari, Vinod Kumar Pandey, Fatima Beewi
to name just a few, faced very uncomfortable even humiliating situation during their tenures.
We have waited too long for convention. Now it is necessary to frame some rules regarding the
appointment and functioning of governors.
8- It has been suggested that Lok Sabha should be involved in the selection of Prime
Minister. Justice Seervai has suggested that the Prime Minister should be selected by Lok
Sabha by a majority vote. If no candidate gets majority of votes in the first voting, the second
voting should be resorted to select one from the top two persons selected in the first voting.
9- The government i.e. the executive must realize that it is only one component of the
Impact of Coalition Politics on Coalition Politics 351
state and not the state itself, it must not bypass the Legislature by issuing circulars and rules
as and when it wants. Some people say that compulsions of coalition politics hamper legislature
since the government does not have the numbers in parliament. But this can not be accepted
as an excuse for inaction; It must draft and get passed necessary laws to address the pressing
problems of the nation.®^
10- As none of the suggestions is acceptable to all, a sort of national debate is on these
suggestions. This is likely to go on until and unless one, two or many of them are made part
of our political system either through constitutional amendment or judicial verdicts or well
established conventions. However, we are sure to find out remedies to the maladies from
which our political system is affected at present. It may be advisable to appoint a committee
of experts to examine the above suggestions and make its recommendations.
CONCLUSION :
As may be inferred from the above analysis, the era of coalition government has given
both positive and negative signals. We should catch hold of positive signals like understanding
and cooperation among regional and national political parties, common minimum programme,
coordination committee, politics of consensus, culture of coalition politics etc. and try to
evolve a unique model of parliamentary government something like ‘Popular National Government’
which will be most suited to our multi-cultural, multi-religious polity. If however, God forbid, we
succumb to the degenerating forces unleashed by the era of coalition politics like pressure
tactics, black-mailing, criminalization of politics, politicization of criminals, misuse of power
for economic and political gains, nepotism, casteism, communalism etc. then not only
democracy is doomed in the country but our survival as a constitutional state will be also in
doubt. Thus our political system is on trial. We have to prove that we are fit for democracy and
constitutional government.
References :
1. S. Jaipal Reddy ‘Rog Se KHATARNAK UPCHAR’ Sahara Samay/ (Lucknow) 14th
February 2004, p.22.
2. Times of India, Lucknow, 29th May, 1996.
3. Sayeed, S.M. Bhartiya Rajnitik Vyavastha, Sulabh Prakashan, Lucknow 2000, p. 1 47.
4. Timesof India, Lucknow, 2nd June, 1996.
ibid, 13th June, 1996, Lucknow
Ibid, 12th June, 1997, Lucknow
5 .
352
The Indian Journal of Political Science
7. Rajni Kothari, Rajniti Nai, Sarkar Nai Aur Daur Naya’ in Rasthriya Sahara, Lucknow,
Hastakshep, June 8th 1 996, p.1 .
8. Arun Kumar Pandey, ‘Punch Tathya Aur Punch Nishkarsh’ in Ibid, p.4.
9. Vibhanshu Dival. ‘Bahut ummed Nahi’ in lbid,p. 1 .
10. Times of India, Lucknow 22nd April, 1997.
1 1 . Rashtriya Sahara, Hastakshep, op. cit, 6 December, 1 997, p.1 .
12. Ibid.
13. Ibid.
14. Ibid.
15. Ibid.
16. Times of India, Lucknow, 5th December, 1997.
17. Ibid, 20th March, 1998.
1 8. Janak Raj Jai, ‘Commissions and Omissions by India President’ Vo!. II p. 275, Regency
Publications, New Delhi, p. 1996.
19. See Thakur C.P. & D.P. Sharma, ‘India, under Atal Behari Vajpayee The BJP Era,
1 999’ UBS Publishers and distributors, New Delhi.
20. Times of India, Lucknow, 1 8th April, 1 999.
21 . Quoted by Wilso Harold, ‘A Prime Minister on Prime Ministers’ 1 997. Quoted in Thakur
CP and Sharma DP Op. Cit Page. 358.
22. Times of India, Lucknow, 27th April, 1 999.
23. Ibid, 16th May, 1999.
24. Ibid, 14th October, 1999.
25. Ibid, 7th February, 2004.
26. Manisha, ‘Profiles of Indian Prime Ministers, Jawaharlal Nehru to Dr. Man Mohan Singh’
2004. Mittal Publication, 2005, New Delhi, p. 424.
27. The Times of India, Lucknow, 23rd May, 2004.
28. Subhash Kashyap, ‘The Ten Lok Sabhas’ 1992, Shipra Publication Shakarpur, New
363
Impact of Coalition Politics on Coalition Politics
Delhi, p. 223-24.
29. Janak Raj Jai. Op. Cit, p.9.
30. R. Venkatramen, ‘My Presidential years’ 1 994, p.437. Harper Collins Publishers, 2004,
New Delhi, p.437.
31. Ibid,p.443.
32. Ibid, p.488.
33. Dr. Janak Raj Jai, Op. Cit. p. 10.
34. A Surya Prakash, ‘A Good year Mr. Singh’ PIONEER, Lucknow 25th May, 2005, p.6.
35. Sayeed S.M. Op. Cit. p.10.
36. R. Venkatraman, Op. Cit. p. 404.
37. Bhavadeep Kang, ‘Rule of the Two’. 'India Today’ 30 August, 2004. pp. 20-21 .
38. Prabhu Chawla, ‘Sonia Gandhi Ka Udai’. India Today, Hindu, 1 7 February, 2005, p.27.
39. S. Rama Swami Cho, ‘Theatre of the Absurd’, Times of India, Delhi 1 st July, 2005, p.
27.
40. Shachi Rainikar, ‘Two Roll Back in Twelve Months’, Organizer, 12th June 2005, p.13.
41. Prabhu Chawla and Bhavdeep Kang, ‘Couple at odds’, India Today’, 16th May, 2005,
p.26.
42. Narendra Mohan, ‘Arajakta Ke Samne Asahai Hai Bhartiya Samvidhan’, Dainik Jagran,
14th March, 1999, p.8.
43. Swapan Das Gutpa, ‘Faculty Building’ Sunday PIONEER (Agenda), 22nd May, 2005,
p.1
44. Debashish Mukarjee, ‘Rising to the Challenge’, Week May 22, 2005, p. 47.
45. Arun Jaitley, ‘Force of a government’. Times of India, 31 st May, 2005, p.8.
46. A. Surya Parkash, ‘Judicial Co-governance, a Reality, PIONEER, 1 8th January, 2005,
p.4.
47. A. Surya Parkash, ‘A Good Year Mr. Singh’, PIONEER, 25th May, 2005, p.6.
48. The PIONEER, Lucknow 24th August, 2005.
The indian Journal of Political Science
354
49. The PIONEER, Lucknow 10th May, 2005, p.1 .
50. Dainik Jagran Lucknow, 1 st June 2005.
51 . Shachin Rainikar, Op. Cit, p. 1 3.
52. Vijai Jindal, ‘Path to Good Governance’, The Times of India, Lucknow, 8th September,
2005, p.7.
53. Shachi Rainikar, Op. Cit, p. 13.
54. The Times of India, (Editorial) Lucknow 10th September, 2004 p.7.
55. Anshul Chaturvedi ‘Big Fish Small Fish’, The Times of India Lucknow, 7th May, 2004.
56. Dr. Janak Raj Jai, Op. Cit, p. 278.
57. The Times of India, Lucknow, August 1 5, 2001 .
58. Dr. Janak Raj Jai, Op. Cit, p. 21 3.
59. Quoted by Pran Chopra Unto Parliament 11’ Hindustan Times, Lucknow, May 1 0, 1 996,
p.6.
60.
Vijai Jindal Op. Cit, p.7.
The Indian Journal of Political Science
Vol. LXVIH, No. 2, Apr.-Jun., 2007
POSTMODERN INDIA ?
THE NATION IN SPITE OF FRAGMENTS
Jyotirmaya Ttipathi
Though nation-states have been subjected to the homogenizing forces of globalization
and market economy, India as a nation-state has grown in strength. At a time when
nationlessness is the norm rather than an exception, India’s unitary structure as a
masternarrative has successfully challenged the little narratives of regionalism and
dissent. The clue may be found in India’s geopolitical location and civUizational/ideological
divide it has with its neighbors. This history makes India perpetually conscious of
externational threat perceptions, thus m^ing India one. In spite of the internal division
between secular and hindu nationalism, represented by Congress and BJP respectively,
India is perceived as one nation, secular or hindu, by its enemies. Since India’s history
is inextricably related to its dark enemy Pakistan, India’s national consciousness
continues to be both unified and uniform.
It is quite audacious to talk about nation-states and nationalism in an age when every
facet of human experience seems to be relegated to globalized market economy. It is commonly
believed that as transnational companies (TNCs) advance, nation- states decline. Late capitalism
and its progeny postmodernism, it is said, have brought about major paradigm shifts in postcolonial
societies like India. India’s acceptance of liberalized economy in the nineties, introduction of
foreign direct investments (FDls) in virtually every sector, and mass migration of Indians to every
corner of the world may tempt us to believe that nation-state is on the wane. But it is quite naive
to write of nation state, culture, identity and history, given the fact that India is not, and cannot
be one, a postmodern society in spite of all those factors that constitute postmodernism.
My attempt here is to prove the masternarrative of nation as a compulsion, which lives in
every Indian’s psyche in varied and often conflicting conditions. This finding is based on recent
political events involving India, and the warring ideologies of different political parties. Ever since
our tryst with destiny(read India’s independence) in 1947 that legitimated our existence as a
secular nation-state, yet left enough reason in the formation of Pakistan to question that very
basis of secularism, nation and nationalism continue to haunt us. It is not possible to know for
certain whether nationalism emerged in colonies in response to its European formation or vice
versa, it is beyond doubt that a postcolonial society like India could not and now cannot live
without extenral threat perceptions - real or imaginary. We are because others are not. These
threat perceptions make the nation i.e. India, In spite of fragments.
Derrida might have challenged the existence of logos or any ‘transcendental signified’ in the
study of human sciences, but the same does not apply to the lived experience in India. The
present Indian experience shows that centralized power of the nation-state or logos has
successfully undermined and delegitimated every kind of resistant voice. Indian nation-state as
a transcendent entity has not only represented itself as a metanarrative but has successfully
The Indian Journal of Political Science
356
silenced little narratives of regional concerns. Lyotard’s clarion call to put an end to all
masternarratives has not been realized in India so far, nor will it in near future.
The nineteenth and tweentieth centuries have given us as much terror as we can take.
vVe have paid a high enough price for the nostalgia of the whole and the one . . . . Let us wage a
war on totality. Let us activate the differences .... (Lyotard 82)
Godhra^ carnage and the subsequent reign of terror, numberless communal riots,
conversions and retaliations, have proved beyond doubt that we have not yet refined “our sensitivity
to differences . . . and ability to tolerate the incommensurable” (Lyotard xxv). A strong centre with
a unitary structure (federal in theory) reinscribes our faith in what Derrida calls the ‘metaphysics
of presence’. As states and individuals are required to respect ‘national interests’ (a good phrase
that has become a cliche) even against their rights, we have an authoritative centre that can
punish erring states (Article 356 of Indian Constitution^) and individuals (POTA^ or like). Thus
what we have in India is more a modernist kind of nation-state that justifies the tyranny of the
norm and represents the victory of the central over the regional or individual.
Nation as an absent ‘Presence’ and a metaphor of material conditions has implications
for a kind of politics that is against postmodern ideas. If postmodernism entails decentering of
authority, India is still stuck in modern or even premodern structure of authority and power.
Political decentering of logos, which according to Richard Kearney, involves cosmopolitanism
and regional autonomy has never been realized in India so far. For Kearney, “genuine
internationalism (working at a global level) and critical regionalism (working at a local level)
represent ... two sides of a postmodern alternative” (Kearney 583). So far as internationalism is
concerned, India cannot embrace that idea, at least in Asia, with neighbours like Pakistan,
Bangladesh and China. We, as a people, have always been obsessed with civilizational and
ideological others (Pakistan ancT Bangladesh) and racial and ideological others (China, even
Nepal). We cannot live with these others, yet cannot exist without them. It is not like postmodern
identity in difference, rather an identity in negation and hatred. Our being a nation is predicated
on our capacity to hate and maximize differences, in spite of recent peace initiatives with our
neighbours. Internationalism with our neighbours will not work simply because as a distinct
nation we cannot live without history and past. Nor our colonial past will let us embrace Euro-
American ‘friends’ in totality.
The second aspect, i.e. regionalism, is yet to be a viable alternative to the power that our
constitution invests in the centre. Regionalism may emerge for any purpose but tolerance and
there will always be a political angle to it. The demand for Telengana'^ will be acceptable as long
as it pays political dividends. Kashmir’s autonomy® may be considered, but not before the
Postmodern India ? 357
^ centre is forced by the ‘international community’. Immediately after coming to power the UPA®
government sacked the governors of Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Haryana and Goa, since they were
appointed by the NDA'' government. The NDA too, during its tenure, did its bit in roiling the
heads of Congress governors. Manohar Parikar government in Goa was toppled and in Jharkhand,
Governor Syed Razi appointed Shibu Soren as the Chief Minister even though the latter did not
have the majority. All these, and many more, indicate delegitimation of India’s federal structure
and establish the centre as a totalizing power.
Nation and state, in theory, are two different concepts. State refers to a geographical
territory with aparatuses like legislative, executive, judiciary, citizenship, national flag etc. and
demands its citizens to be loyal. Thus secesionists in Kashmir, Assam, Nagaland, Mizoram
etc. have Indian passports even though they fight Indian sovereignty tooth and nail. Unlike ‘state’
which is recognized by the UN, nation is a cultural artefact to which one emotionally belongs.
Thus we had Khaiistan and now Kashmir nation, Asom nation, Naga nation, that the separatists
want to convert to states. In case of Pakistan, as in European states, it was a state before it was
a nation. In India, heterogeneties notwithstanding, we had a nation against the British imperialism
that was made a state after decolonization. A democratically elected representative govt, made
the difference between nation and state disappear. Though nations, these days, are associated
with culture and ethnicity, it still remains inseparable from the state in India.
Though critics of nationalism brand it as “a deeply contradictory enterprise” Oarup 1 49),
it invokes a kind of homogenized consciousness in spite of political ambiguities. On February
1 3, 2005 an article was published in an Oriya (a regional language of India) daily The Sama] by
Dhaneswar Mohapatra, a famous linguist and social anthropologist. T ransiated into English the
, ^ , title of the article would be “Intellectual Superstition”. Mr Mohapatra lambasted the assumptions
i on which our national consciousness and the very idea of India as a nation were based. Exposing
intellectuals’ obsession with a glorious, hoary past, he called this ‘intellectual superstition’. As
expected there was a backlash and Mr. Mohapatra had to seek police protection after receiving
threat calls. The debate continued with more intellectuals joining that superstition. Whenever
the question of Bangladeshi immigrants comes, we condemn them for destroying our forest
covers and patronising terrorism, and we do it for the sake of the nation. Defense deals are made
i in the name of national security and if subsequently any loopholes are found, various commissions
' are set up to find the culprit and ensure the security of the nation. If we stop making arms supply
to Nepal and then revoke it®, both are said to be in the interest of the nation. If we demonize
i Pakistan President Musharaf for orchestrating Kargil® and then embrace him as a messiah of
” peace, both are believed to benefit the nation. National interest and security have become the
most powerful tropes of Indian life. Even a television advertisement for Surf Excel (a washing
358
The Indian Journal of Political Science
powder) persuades potential consumers to use the product and save two buckets of water for
the nation, thus subordinating market economy to nationalism. There are films and tele serials
valorizing Indian armed forces fighting enemies and insurgents. Not only political and legis'auve
decisions, common life and incidents have become national allegories.
Why so? When India is just next to China in attracting FDIs, and multinational companies
(MNCs) have successfully colonized our middle class mind, it is a bit problematic to find the
answer. Normally capitalism reduces everything to profit and undermines national spirit. Desire
forswadeshi (everything indigenous) is replaced by need-based foreign products, and classical
music is replaced by M TV. Coca-colonization creates a mindset that does not wish to be
confined to national borders, and does not mind to explode the national cocoon. In a way, the
very idea of nation is marketed for mass consumption, and becomes a part of culture industry.
The narrative of the nation is linked to the progress of political parties like Bharatiya Janata Party
(BJP) and Congress (India shining campaign by NDA and advertisement for UPA’s one year in
office^ °) and is aimed at the same end like market economy - general consumption. TNCs
authorize nationlessness and work for the “demotion of the nation-state to the status of a resident
unit of economic exchange in the global economy” (Pease 1 ). The operation of TNCs in postcolonial
societies make the nation nebulous and undefined. Instead of creating a unitary consciousness,
it creates a class society, dividing It Into those who use products and those who do not. It does
not unify, it fragments. Masao Miyoshi, a critic of nation-state, equates the triumph of TNCs to
colonialism and believes that instead of bringing independence to Third World countries,
decolonization tightened the Euro-American grip on their economy.
But all the above observations fail to address Indian peculiarity. Masao Miyoshi knew that
profit or use of consumer goods could make people forget their nation up to a certain limit.
People get divided in the absence of a common enemy and when they are without any cause to
fight and die for. America had such a crisis after the end of the cold war. The enemy being gone
people divided themselves along the lines of race, ethnicity, sexuality etc. Miyoshi got it right
when he said, “war activates nationalism and patriotism in as much as hostility deepens the
chasm that cuts “them” off from “us” " (Miyoshi 742-743). It is the other, real or perceived, that
constitutes the self and this definition of the self by the negation of the other is quite common
among humans. The absence of the other, thus, can endanger identity politics. This other is
either civilizational or racial or ideological whose existence threatens the very being of the self.
Huntington, In his book Who Are We? argues that American identity was at stake after
the disintegration of the USSR until the World Trade Centre attack. Osama Bin Laden’s
appearance ended American search for a potent enemy. The September 1 1 attack “restored the
Postmodern India ? 359
primacy of national identity over other identities for virtually all Americans” (Huntington 108,
2004). But India as a nation has never been free from the spectre of Pakistan. Both India and
Pakistan justify their identity through the other’s negation. Pakistan, as a state, was based on
two-nation theory and exclusivity and was created not In the name of people, but in the name of
religion and God. It was God’s Holy Land and Kafirs (non-believers) had no place in Allah’s
schemes. Even muslims migrating to Pakistan from India during partition were mohajirs (migrants,
implying inferiority), not quite complete muslims because of their birth in the enemy land.
According to two-nation theory'*'’ Kashmir should have been in Pakistan and not in India, the
latter vulgarising Islam by going for a secular state. India was the negation of two-nation theory
and Pakistan was seen by India as the veritable symbol of betrayal and religious fanaticism.
Maharaja Hari Singh’s accession of musllm-dominated Kashmir"*^ proved India’s secular
credentials and furthered the religious-secular divide. Thus India and Pakistan as each other’s
ideological opposite marched ahead in time through wars, infiltration and suspicion, but never
forgetting the other. Nation-state in India and Pakistan never declined, because of religious and
military regimes in Pakistan, and in spite of liberalized economy in India. Wars with Pakistan
kept our nationalism alive. As Huntington said, “we know who we are only when we know who
we are not and often only when we know whom we are against” (Huntington 21 , 1 996).
Contrary to Masao Miyoshi who believed in the disappearance of the nation-state under
TNCs, Huntington, quite gloomily, predicted that “nation states remain the principal actors in
world affairs” (Huntington 21, 1996). The clash of civilization theory is an irresponsible, yet a
practical one, if the present trends are any indication. Coid war was the war of ideology. But
once the USSR fell and there were no ideological frontiers to be conquered, America’s foreign
policy tilted towards civilizational fault lines. Global politics moved beyond ideology and were
replaced by the clash of civilizations. But while advocating this theory in 1996, Huntington did
not have many events to support his claim, other than the Gulf War. Now that Afghanistan has
fallen, Saddam’s Iraq has crumbled, and the countdown has already begun for Iran, Huntington’s
worst fears are getting confirmed: “The revitalization of religion throughout much of the world is
reinforcing these cultural differences” (Huntington 28-29, 1996). And we in India know it better
since ail the wars that Pakistan waged against India were wars of religion and confirmed Pakistan’s
faith in two-religion/two-nation theory. Since Kashmir was the bone of contention, from Pakistan’s
point of view, the wars were not between two states but between a predominantly Hindu nation
and an Islamic one.
Unlike America, India had a constant threat perception since its independence. The
external threat was a hostile Pakistan, but also communist China after 1 962. Immediately after
the partition, both India and Pakistan saw each other as enemies. We were Indians because we
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were up against Pakistan. There is no enemy like a parted brother and we never accepted what
is not us. Pakistan as a state was a constant reminder of ‘loss’ that justified its being an evil
state. But after India’s crushing victory in 1 971 that led to the creation of Bangladesh, Pakistan
seemed to have accepted its defeat. The enemy being temporarily out of sight, we started
defining ourselves in terms of race, ethnicity, language and religion. Thus we had Emergency,
Khalistan movement, North-Eastern insurgency and linguistic conflicts in South India. Still these
subnational identities never lost sight of Pakistan’s new way of waging war against India, through
infiltration and state-sponsored terrorism. The beginning of liberalization could not subside national
sentiments. Ironically Prime Minister Narsi.nha Rao’s liberalization era coincided with the rise in
intense infiltration and terrorism. Wars and proxy wars thus concretized India and turned Indian
people into a nation.
In 1 947, 1 965 and 1 971 Pakistan fought wars with India, and by and large these wars with
Pakistan were ideological -theocratic Pakistan versus a secular India. The Prime Ministers of
India during the three wars were Nehru, Shastri and Indira Gandhi, who believed in India’s secular
credentials. But the Kargil war of 1999 was civilizational and was fought between Hindu and
Muslim nations. India’s Prime Minister was A.B. Vajpayee, an RSS pracharak''^ and Musharaf,
the then Pakistan Army Chief, a religious hawk. For India it was a chance to avenge the plane
hijacking that had seen the release of Maulana Masood Azhar^'^ , a Pakistan based terrorist.
The Kargil war made all the regional issues in India vanish and made people one. Charity cricket
matches were played; Nana Patekar (a Bollywood movie star) went to the front to fight Pakistanis;
people donated money to keep the war going and blood for the wounded soldiers; patriotic
songs and music were played on television and a fiedgling NDA government consolidated its
position. Martyrdoms of Indian soldiers hailing from various states made people forget their
regional and linguistic differences. Bereaved parents of dead soldiers proclaimed that they were
proud to have begotten such children who could sacrifice their lives for the cause of the nation.
Prior to the war, India led by BJP had tested nuclear bombs at Pokhran which established
India’s pride as a Hindu nation. Pakistan retaliated with Islamic bombs at Chhagai Hills and
Abdul Quadeer Khan, the father of nuclear research in Pakistan, travelled to Iran and other
countries to share nuclear technology that may unite Islamic nations. Kargil war was a war of
identity; in fact India was in need of such a war to be a stronger nation-state.
Not much has changed after the Kargil war. The recent talks between Manmohan Singh
and Pervez Musharaf should not be misread as the end of hostility. The whole show is not
propelled by love for peace or the realization in the futility of war, but by the invigilation of the
American President. We should not forget that Kargil occurred after the much-hyped bus to
Lahore carrying Indian PM Vajpayee. Even President Musharaf, in his last visit to India,
Postmodern India ?
361
acknowiedged that his change of heart (naya dil laya boon) is the fall out of the changedglobal
order after September 1 1 . And let’s not ignore that just before the historic Mujaferabad-Srinagar
(connecting Pakistan with India) bus service, a tourist center was razed by militants. Pakistan
Foreign Minister Kasuri threatened to seek UN resolution on Kashmir if India showed ‘obduracy’
regarding Hurriyat^® leaders’ visit to Pakistan. Attacks on Indian Parliament and Akshardham
temple are still fresh in the minds of Indian people. The former was an attack on India, the
secular state and the latter an attack on the Hindu nation. That is not all. Hurriyat leader Yasin
Mallick has admitted that Pakistani Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmad set up a terrorist
camp, where 3500 jehadis(holy warriors) were trained in guerilla warfare to fight against India.
Now that Pakistan’s evil designs show no sign of abatement, Bangladesh, another brother is
gradually coming forward revolting against Indian sovereignty and proving to be a safe haven for
terrorist operations. The massacre of 16 BSF men in Assam by Bangladesh Rifles and the
recent killing of an Indian soldier Jeevan Kumar roused emotions. That Bangladesh is going
Pakistan way is beyond doubt. Strategists believe that it is nurturing hopes to create a greater
Bangladesh by annexing parts of Assam and Bihar, two states of India. LTTE''® in Sri Lanka has
started acquiring aircrafts for operations against the Sri Lankan army, and Indian officials see
this as a security threat. Maoists in Nepal are against Indian hegemony and have links with
Naxals' '' in India. Then there is the ever enigmatic big brother China, sharing a part of POK'®
with Pakistan, which remains a villain in Indian psyche after 1 962 invasion. These threat perceptions
will never let people forget the nation they belong to. As long as ‘others’ remain, we cannot stop
being ‘we the nation’. The sense of living in a hostile world will continue to differentiate us from
others with other religions and histones.
But there are some apparent fragments. Huntington distinguished between two kinds of
nationalisms: political and cultural. In this formulation, the first is seen as progressive, multicultural,
cosmopolitan and the latter as regressive, atavistic and mono cultural.
The good, civic nationalism, assumes an open society based, at least in theory, on a social
contract to which people of any race or ethnicity are able to subscribe and thus become citizens.
Ethnic nationalism, in contrast, is exclusive, and membership in the nation is limited to those who
share certain primordial, ethnic or cultural characteristics, (my italics, Huntington 29, 2004)
Nationalism in India may be broadly divided on these lines. The secular political mode! is
claimed to be represented by Congress Party and the latter is represented by Bharatiya Janata
Party. However, this division does not encompass all political and cultural affiliations. Huntington’s
phrase ‘at least in theory’ in the above quotation, adequately captures the duplicitous secular
politics of Congress party.
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Given this fracture, it may appear that we are not one people and one nation. But it is not
so. Each nationalism is so exclusive and watertight that no cross-pollination is possible
ideologically. But let’s not forget that each exclusive unit’s denial to accommodate the other, its
proclamation as the legitimate voice of the nation makes the latter more enduring. None of them
recognizes any fracture or adulteration in nationalism since it is believed that the nationalism or
the nation it represents is the only nationalism. The claim to be the authentic voice of the nation
is so strong that one refuses to accept the other as nationalism at all.
Secular nationalism of Congress represents itself as modern, democratic and in tune
with the present time, whereas cultural nationalism represented by BJP is seen as irrational and
anarchist, more in tune with the feudal past, than with the democratic present. But the other in
each nationalism remains unrepresented. As Neil Lazarus puts it “all nationalisms are therefore
appropriative, since they all claim unisonance, and since these claims necessarily involve speaking
for -and therefore silencing -others” (Lazarus 109). BJP and the Sangh Parivar"*® act as the
cultural custodians of Indian culture against aliens like Muslims and Christians. The graffiti and
posters highlighting this role decree that ‘one can stay in India only when one says Vande
Mataram^°, 'wherever the number of Hindus decrease the demand for secession begins’, ‘kill
those who kill cows’ etc. Similarly Congress does not canonize nationalists not belonging to
Congress or Nehru family. But all said and done, it is quite interesting to note that there is not
much difference between secular and cultural nationalism vis-a-vis Pakistan who is our anti-self.
India’s opposition to Pakistan is both ideological (India’s secularism vs Pakistan’s sharia) and
civilizational (Indian Hindus against Pakistani Muslims) and the wars with Pakistan made the
difference between secular and cultural divide in India disappear. It Is very difficult to say for sure
whether wars with Pakistan were ideological or civilizational. Because they were both. Only
Pakistan could have made secular and cultural nationalisms in India look complementary rather
than contradictory.
Obsession with Pakistan forms a binary, which is essential for the movement of history.
Hindu nationalism and its almost obsessive relation with the past contrasted to secular model’s
near-pathological preoccupation with the history of Congress bring us to the postmodern
conception of history. If postmodernism is the cultural logic of late capitalism, it brings about an
end to ideology and history. Fukuyama believed that free market capitalism, by its victory over
other ideologies like communism, has brought about an end to conflicts and thus to history.
According to this theory, history of capitalism was in conflict with communism till the end of the
cold war. Now that capitalism is omnipresent and has virtually no enemy, history and its binary
thinking have come to an end. Thi§ concept of history as a battleground of two opposites was
introduced by Turner’s frontier thesis. Since frontier rheant struggle between savagism and
Postmodern India ? 363
civilization, Turner believed that the frontier being gone by 1890, the first phase of American
history came to an end. Thus the disappearance of the other marks the end of history. Francis
Fukuyama compares the entire world into a wagon train heading towards the universal happy
ending, i.e. liberal capitalism. Apart from a couple of wagons, all the wagons reach the happy
valley that Fukuyama calls the end of history. Disappearance of resistance to capitalism and a
universal order of market economy are reasons enough for Fukuyama to declare that “the good
news has come” (Fukuyama xiii). But given India’s obsession with ideological and civilizational
other in Pakistan, history may not end in near future.
Another way of interpreting history is to represent it as a narrative with probability and
necessity. History as narrative is a sequence of events, that is antecedent upon what follows,
and the effect is consequent upon what has gone before. But after the end of the cold war the
cause of events vanished and we had only effects that did not need any instigation or propellant.
We have this kind of effect without cause in Iraq invasion. But in India we still have many brave
causes left to die for the nation. History, it seems, will continue to grow.
Still another way of conceiving history is to see It as a narrative of progress, with allied
ideas like movement and linearity. History has a beginning and a definite end. Thus when growth
and progress come to a saturation point, we experience the end of history. Both J.S. Mill and
Adam Smith talked about a stationary state, a culmination of economic progress. This realization
comes when it is seen that no further progress is possible, and when needs are invented to
make the society appear vibrant. In India, globalization and progress are still in their infancy and
science is still believed to be the grand narrative of growth and development. The fact that India
is a developing country, with liberalized market economy just a decade old, it is impossible to
announce the end of history.
It is imperative to note that, of late, India is witnessing the unfolding of history in textbooks
prepared by the National Council of Education Research and Training (NCERT). The saffronization
and the subsequent detoxification^^ prove that historiography is still at large, let alone the end
of history. Being a postcolonial society, we have never been free from history, first as objects
and then as subjects. Even now histories continue to be written and rewritten to legitimate one
ideology over another, but all in the name of the nation. The narrative of India’s history, this way
or that, prove that it is too early to announce the decline of the nation-state and the end of
history.
The word ‘history’ which is derived from the Greek word ‘historia’ means to ‘investigate’. It
implies a particular manner of conceiving the past and the way in which we make it manifest.
But there is always this difference between history as ‘once really occurred’ and history as ‘now
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understood’. Since both the things are expressed by the same word ‘history’, it implies that the
events that we read in history exist autonomous of the historian’s mind, purely objective and
impartial. But not just imperial history which branded colonized people as people without history,
but also that history which is disseminated by national governments tell one kind of story to
perpetuate the importance of its characters. That is why resistant stories are never told or at
most given peripheral treatment. As Bill Ashcroft says, "to have a history is the same as what it
means to have a legitimate existence; history and legitimation go hand in hand, history legitimates
‘us’ and not others” (Ashcroft 83).
Romiia Thapar acknowledges that the historian is “often influenced by his own contemporary
settings” and that in writing history ‘the needs of the present are read into the past” (Thapar 1 ).
Thus what we get is not history, but fiction, even though it is equally true that no history is
immune to this accusation. The aim of modern Indian history is to show the freedom struggle as
a secular enterprise led by Gandhi and Nehru, and that people from all religions participated in
it. That is why the Hindu character of Indian freedom struggle was never legitimated. But Aurobindo
believed that cultural revival is inextricably mixed with religious revival and that freedom movement
should have a religious character. Dismissing the idea that nationalism is a political programme,
he said:
Nationalism is a religion that has come from God. . .if you are going to be a nationalist, if
you are going to assert to this religion of nationalism, you must do it in the religious spirit
. . ..When it is said that India shall expand and extend itself, it is the Sanatan Dharma that shall
expand and extend itself over the world .... (in Thapar 1 3)
Thus Aurobindo’s insights into freedom struggle was ignored and only his second innings
was recorded as revealing the true Aurobindo, a religious guru, not a freedom fighter. But by all
means, he was lucky to have escaped the level ‘terrorist’ or ‘fanatic, even though he is believed
to be one, because at that point of time Congress party was not thinking politics in terms of
governments and power. Similarly the contribution of Rammohan Roy, Ranade and other Brahmo
Samaj leaders to the freedom struggle is minimized and they were represented as social reformers.
But these leaders wanted a nation free from all foreign influences: ‘T o them the nation meant the
Hindu community; they regarded muslims as foreigners more or less like the British” (Hussain
1 36). Similarly Tilak and Arya Samajists thought of nationalism as a religious revival and tried to
take Hinduism back to its pristine glory. But since all of them did not conform to Congress
ideology, they were marginalized, if not demonized, by moderates like Gandhi and Nehru.
Nationalism was the story of these moderates.
Congress could not sympathise with Hindu revivalism. For Congress the narrative of India
Postmodero India ?
365
was an evolution, with its climax in 1885 when Indian National Congress was born. Going
beyond 1 885 would have been a tacit acceptance of those divisive forces called Hindu nationalists.
Thus the history of modern India began with the emergence of Congress and India’s history
became the history of Congress. This reached its culmination during Indira Gandhi’s tenure:
‘Indira is India and India is Indira’. It meant that Indian freedom movement, or even progress, has
one standardized narrative. To be a nationalist meant to be a Congress worker. Nation and
Congress were synonymous; an un-Congress nationalist was no nationalist. Thus centralization
of nationalism in Congress had its blatant manifestation when Man! Shankar Aiyar, UPA’s
former Petroleum Minister ordered to remove Veer Savarkar’s^^ plaque from the cellular Jail in
Andaman. It was nothing but an attempt to erase every sign of resistance to the master narrative
of Congress nationalism. To be a Congress worker is to have a legitimate position in Indian
history. And the present HRD minister Arjun Singh has vowed to erase the remnant un-Congress
and so antinational element from Indian history by his detoxification mission. Children will continue
to read one whole chapter on Akbar, a symbol of communal harmony (because he married
Hindu women, but whether he married his daughters and sisters off to Hindus is not certain), and
Rana Pratap will be dismissed in a couple of sentences or paragraphs. Modern India’s history,
like imperial history, valorizes the victory, not resistance. And now that communists are enjoying
power at the centre for the first time, the NCERT has given detailed instructions to teachers not
to ignore socialists in Indian history. Immediately after taking power, the UPA banned history
and social science text books prepared under NDA and ordered to refer to books which were
prepared more than 30 years ago. From Saffron, history became red. Bhagat Singh, the freedom
fighter, again became a terrorist.
if Congress stands for evolution, BJP and Sangh Parivar symbolise revival. Since
colonialism did not recognize Indian past, decolonization for these revivalist groups means a
glorification of a mythical past. As Romila Thapar says, “Glorification of the past became a
compensation for the humiliation of the present” (Thapar 17). It must be admitted that these
groups live in a Utopian, imaginary world to the oblivion of the present. For them the degraded
present with its aliens in the form of Muslims and Christians does not reflect Indian ethos. That
is why they went on to distort or saffronise Indian history by making Lord Rama and Krishna
historical characters. Murli Manohar Joshi and others believed that an uncontaminated Hindu
past is the expression of the nation. Since the glory of pristine Hinduism was devalidated by
isiam and British rule, some ethnic and religious cleansing was required which saw its culmination
in Gujarat riots. Gyan Prakash takes this revivalism to task when he says the “idea of the
modern nation as the return of the archaic introduces a sharp break between the past and the
present: the past irrupts, it does not evolve, into the present” (Prakash 540).
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366
For Hindu nationalists, India lost independence with the invasion of Mamud and Ghouri,
and not with the arrival of East India Company as secular history makes us believe. They
somehow feel that the number of Hindu deaths were much more in the Islamic period, rather
than during British Raj. Hindu nationalists did not participate in the 1857 movement, because
they felt that the said movement was intended to reestablish Muslim rule under Bahadur Shah
Jaffer. Independence in 1947 gave independence from Britishers, but not from Muslims. Now
that India is an independent state officially, Hindu nationalists of Sangh Parivar cannot go for
another independence movement. But they can certainly spread a hate campaign, and establish
Hindu superiority. Nation is confused with religion.
Given these fragments, how does one justify one nation. How does one reconcile the
razor sharp divide between Hindu nation and secular nation? As I have argued earlier, exclusivity
has a tendency to claim universality. The claim to normal and all-inclusive umbrella refuses the
other to be the same, for doing so will be the denial of its legitimacy. Both Hindu and secular
nationalism claim to be the authentic and representative voice of India as a nation. Through
rejection of the other, both reinscribe their faith in one nation. That means, one does not recognize
the other as nation at all, thus one nation.
I will end with L.K. Advanl's visit to Pakistan in June 2005 when he was the president of
BJP and the speeches he made there. He made two statements: (1) Qaid-e-Azam Jinnah,
Pakistan’s father of the nation was a secular person and (2) the day of Babri demolition was the
saddest day in his life. That he was making a contextual statement about Jinnah, who in his
Constituent Assembly speech in 1 947 had declared Pakistan a secular state(that secularism
died a natural death after Jinnah), was forgotten. There was a storm of protest. So far as his
Babri demolitions^ statement is concerned, secular nationalists criticised Advani for shedding
crocodile tears and aiming at an image makeover to win over Indian Muslims and their votes.
There was even more violent reaction from the Parivar, which observes December 6 as Valour
Day, that saw in Advani's statement betrayal to 85 crore Hindus in general and kar sevaks in
particular.
His observation on Jinnah was more damaging, in which both secularists and Hindu
nationalists saw anti-national elements. For Congress, it was a question of survival: if Jinnah
was secular, who was responsible for the partition? If Jinnah wanted both Hindus and Muslims
live together, who proposed two-nation theory? Was it Nehru? Was it Gandhi? Was it Congress?
To term Jinnah secular is to deprive Congress of Its USP and question its status as the only
champion of secularism in pre-independence India. Jinnah's secularism may change the way
we look at Indian history; its heroes and villains. This may prove Congress unsecular and
Postmodern India ? 367
implicate it in the partition, which is seen as an evil by Indians. Both Jinnah and Congress
cannot be secular. Nobody in India, after partition, subscribed to Jinnah's secularism before
Advani. Given that Jinnah was dead and dead men tell no tales. Congress became synonymous
with secularism. To utter Jinnah is to utter evil. As Ashis Nandy puts it, “Jinnah has become a
demonic presence in the culture of Indian politics as an example of the kind of political leader
one should not be” (Nandy 6). For Congress, both Jinnah and Advani are the founders of religious
fanaticism in two sides of the LOC.^"^ The validity of Advani’s statement on Jinnah could have
ruptured Congress’ secular identity, and thus national identity.
Advani’s boundary crossing was not only unacceptable to the Parivar; it was treachery
out and out. Praveen Togadia, the firebrand leader of Vishwa Hindu Parishad^®, called Advani
'traitor' for having betrayed the sentiments of Hindus. He even threatened to revive Jan Sangh^®
to represent Hindu voice. VHP spokesperson Acharya Dharmendra mockingly called BJP,
Bharatiya Jinnah Party. Comparisons were made by Parivar members between a prostitute’s
shifting love and Advani's shifting loyalty. Coming under severe criticism Advani resigned from
BJP presidentship. But what is shameless is that the resolution adopted by the meeting of the
BJP Parliamentary Board, after Advani withdrew the resignation, did not mention Advani's
statement on Jinnah. It claimed that Advani never praised Jinnah nor did he call Jinnah secular.
For these Hindu nationalists, to legitimate Jinnah is to delegitimate Hindus; to accept Jinnah's
secularism is to devalidate Hindu Rashtra(Hindu State). Both Jinnah and Hindu nationalists
cannot be subjects of history. In a Hindu Rashtra Jinnah can only be an antagonist sanctioning
the massacre of Hindus. Making a friend of an enemy is not just possible since it may explode
Parivar's identity. What is the point of being a Hindu if there is no fanatic Jinnah and blood thirsty
Muslims.
One statement, many reactions. But these reactions, in spite of contradictions, proved
India as a nation. Radically opposite reactions targetted Advani’s antinational statement and
went on to prove India, the secular nation or India, the Hindu nation. Either way India was a
quasi-spiritual essence that could not be adulterated with Jinnah. Quite normally Pakistan and
its founder proved India's being. In spite of fractures, secularists and Hindu nationalists reinscribed
their faith in the nation by crucifying Jinnah and confirmed their faith in a uniform Pakistan (anti-
secular and anti-Hindu), thus making India one.
During colonialism India as a nation emerged by pitting itself against the British and now
it lives against Pakistan. Pakistan will continue to live in that image and so will India in spite of
fragments. Long live our enemies, long live India.
Notes :
In May 1 999 Pakistan Army intruded into Indian territory in the Kargii sector of Jammu
and Kashmir. The whole operation was undertaken by the then Pakistan Army Chief
and the present President Pervez Musharaf.
The Indian Journal of Political Science 368
1 . On the fateful day of February 27, 2002 some coaches of Sabarmati Express were
torched by Muslim fundamentalists in a place called Godhra in the state of Gujarat.
Those coaches were carrying the karsevaks or the activists of the makeshift Rama
Temple located in the disputed site of Ayodhya. Fifty nine karsevaks were charred to
death in the gruesome incident. The aftermath was worse and some two thousand
muslims were killed systematically in what may be called the worst communal violence
after independence.
2. Under Article 356 of Indian Constitution, the President can, on the recommendation of
the Central Government, dismiss a state govt, or dissolve the state assembly in the
event of a failure of the costitutional machinery in the state. Quite predictably, this
Article has been invoked scores of times to settle political scores.
3. The Prevention of Terrorism Act(POTA) makes provisions for the prevention of, and for
dealing with, terrorist activities. This act is also accused of being misused against
muslims.
A region of Andhra Pradesh, once part of Nizam’s Hyderabad, is economically backward
compared to the coastal belt. Elections have been won and lost in the name of a
separate Telengana state. Now the cause is championed by Telengana Rashtra
Samiti(TRS).
Introduced as a temporary measure in 1947, Article 370 gives a special status and
autonomy to the muslim dominated state of Jammu and Kashmir. Thus the state has a
separate constitution and a separate flag.
United Progressive Alliance{UPA) is a coalition of many political parties led by Congress.
U PA came to powe r I n 2004.
National Democratic AI!iance(NDA) led by Bharatiya Janata Party came to power in
1 998. It is the first coalition govt, in India to have lasted a full five year term.
India suspended all mlllitary supply to Nepal after King Gyanendra assumed power and
dismissed an elected government. But after China responded with arms supply to Nepal,
India resumed the same citing national interest.
Postmodern India ? 369
10. Just before seeking a fresh election in 2004 Bharatiya Janata Party advertised its
achievements by making people believe that India is shining in every aspect of life. The
same happened when UPA completed one year in office. In both the campaigns state
machinery like TV and radio were used as political aparatuses.
1 1 . Mohammad Alii Jinnah, one time Congress leader demanded a separate state for
musiims in India to which Britishers obliged just to avoid the mess that India had been
reduced to. Thus all the musiim dominated areas in the West and the East of India
became parts of the new state of Pakistan.
12. Maharaja Hari Singh was the king of the state of Jammu and Kashmir at the time of
partition and decided not to accede to either India or Pakistan. The king was a hindu
where as the population was largely musiim. But after Pakistan invaded the territory of
J& K the Maharaja decided to accede to India.
1 3. The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh(RSS) Is a nationalist right wing organization started
by K.B. Hedgewar in 1 925. Since then it has grown in prominence and political influence,
giving rise to the Bharatiya Janata Party. The organization believes in Hindu nationalism
and strives to make India a hindu state. Atal BIhari Vajpayee started his career as an
RSS activist.
14. Maulana Masood Azhar was the general secretary of the Pakistan funded terrorist
outfit Harkat-ul-Ansar, active in Kashmir. The outfit is fighting for the secession of Kashmir
from India and making it an Islamic state. Azhar was arrested by the Indian Army in
1993. In December 1999 some terrorists of the organization hijacked Indian Airlines
Flight 81 4 with passengers on board and demanded the release of Azhar. The government
of India succumbed and Azhar was released.
'15. The All Parties Hurriyat Conference(APHC) is an alliance of secessionist parties and
was formed in 1993 to further the cause of Kashmir’s secession from India. Since its
inception it has been consistently promoted by the Pakistan Army and establishment.
1 6. The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam{LTTE) is a separatist and terrorist organization in
Sri Lanka which demands a separate state for Tamils. The organization is notorious for
its cadre of suicide bombers and political assassinations.
17. Naxals are a group of people who claim to atruggle on behalf of landless labourers
against landlords. They operate mostly In rural areas. Their opponents say naxals are
terrorists killing people in the name of making a classless society. The Communist
The Indian Journal of Political Science
370
Party of lnciia{Marxist-Leninist) is the political outfit that propagates naxalite ideology.
1 8. Pakistan Occupied Kashmir, in the 1 947 invasion of Kashmir, Pakistan occupied 781 1 4
sq kms by force. Later under Sino-Pakistan pact Pakistan ceded 5180 sq kms of the
occupied territory to China.
19. The Sangh Parivar is a family of organizations which promote the ideology of Hindu
nationalism and affiliated to the Rashtriya Swayamsavak Sangh.
20. Vande Mataram, written by Bankim Chandra is the national song of India. More than
the National Anthem written by Tagore, the song played a decisive role during Indian
freedom struggle. Later it was appropriated by the RSS and the Sangh Parivar for the
cause of Hindu nationalism. However muslims object to the song since the latter casts
Mother India as an idol and also because the context in which it was sung in Bankim
Chandra’s Anand Math was anti-muslim. The song was also in the controversy recently
when the UPA govt, decided to celebrate the song’s birth centenary {wrongly though)
by singing it in schools, colleges and offices, and again muslims objecting to it.
21 . When the BJP led NDA came to power, it rewrote the NCERT history text books from
the Sangh Parivar’s point of view. Communists and Congress termed it as saffronization
of Indian history. When Congress came to power it purged the history books of ‘anti-
secular’ elements which they called detoxification. Questions were raised for the anti-
Hindu and anti-Sikh elements in the so-called detoxification.
22. Veer Savarkar, a Hindu Mahasabha leader, was a freedom fighter and was imprisoned
by the Britishers in the Andaman Cellular Jail for eleven long years.
23. Babri mosque, believed to be built by one of the commanders of Babur was in an
abandoned condition. Ironically the same place is believed to be the birth place of Lord
Rama, which is believed to have been demolished for the mosque to come up. On
December 06, 1 992 activists of Sangh Parivar including BJP demolished the abandoned
shrine.
24. Line of Control(LOC) refers to the millitary control line between India and Pakistan.
From being a ceasefire line it was formalised as LOC under Shimla Agreement in 1 972.
However neither India nor Pakistan accept it as a permanent boundary.
25. Vishwa Hindu Parishad(VHP) is an international Hindu body championing the cause of
Hindu nationalism. Ideologically it is affiliated to RSS.
Postmodern India ? 371
26. Started by Shyamaprasad Mukherjee in 1 951 , Bharatiya Jana Sangh was ideologically
close to RSS. The party was one of the partners in the Janata Party government of
1977. But after Janata Party’s dabacle in 1980 general election, Jana Sangh leaders left
to form BJP.
Works Cited
Ashcroft. Bill. Post-Colonial Transformation. Routledge: London, 2001.
Fukuyama, Francis. The End of History and the Last Man. Avon: New York, 1 993.
Huntington, Samuel P. The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order.
Penguin Books: New Delhi, 1996.
Who Are We? Penguin Books: New Delhi, 2004.
Hussain, Abid. The National Culture of India. NBT: New Delhi, 1978.
Kearney, Richard. "Postmodernity and Nationalism: A European Perspective". Modern
Fiction Studies. 38.3 (1992).
Lazarus, Neil, Nationalism and Cultural Practice in the Postcolonial World. Cambridge
UP: Cambridge, 1999.
Lyotard, Jean Francois. The Postmodern Condition. University of Minnesota Press:
Minneapolis, 1984.
Miyoshi, Masao. "A Borderless World? From Colonialism to Transnationatism and the
Decline of the Nation-State". Critical Inquiry. 19.4 (1993).
Nandy, Ashis. "Shifting Sands of History". Times of India, Bhubaneswar. 16.6.2005.
Pease, Donald E. "National Narratives, Postnationa! Narration". Modern Fiction Studies.
43.1 (1997).
Prakash, Gyan. "The Modern Nation's Return in the Archaic". Critical Inquiry. Vol. 23,
(1997).
Sarup, Madan. Identity, Culture and Postmodern World. Edinburgh UP: Edinburgh,
1996.
Thapar, Romila. The Past and Prejudice. NBT: New Delhi, 1975.
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The Indian Journal of Political Science
Vol. LXVIll, No. 2, Apr.-June, 2007
RISING ROLES OF ‘NIRDALYAS’
A CASE STUDY OF THE U'” LOK SABHA
GENERAL ELECTION, 2004
Arjun Sharma
All the demerits of the political parties some mentioned earlier are the contributory
elements of the rise of Nirdaliyas. Truly speaking, silent features of political parties
have been gradually declining to strengthen of Nirdaliyas. All the merits matter for the
political parties don't matter for the independent contestants in electoral politics. Non-
committed ideology, factionalism, immoral practices, weak opposition, interest groups,
non-partisan politics, political and electoral behavior, voting pattern electoral
mechanism, role of media both press and electronics, social taboos, economic
backwardness, poverty, illiteracy, multiparty system and many more stated above are
responsible factors for weakening a successful political party and strengthening non-
political politics and Nirdaliyas. These all factors are visible in the case study of the
14th Lok Sabha Election in Bihar.
An overview :
The Conceptoai clarity of the term ‘Nirdaliya’ can’t be visualized until or unless we
understand the theoretical perspective of political party. It is because the ‘Nirdaliya’ is opposed
to the term ' political party’ and is also a negative term so for as affiliation is concerned. What
do we mean by political parties? What are the benefits of these in modern democracy today?
What are the roles they perform in electoral politics in positive as well as negative sense?
What are the weakness they got that are truly responsible for the rise of Nirdalyas?
Political parties are an indispensable feature of democracy as well as modern political
system in the entire world today. Modern Party with its well- organizations and disciplinary
regulations is essentially a 20th century phenomenon. One hundred about eighty years their
place and functions were generally unknown. They are said to have been born in the 17th
century in England. But they were in the Past distrusted, evaded and ever deplored.
Today political parties are necessary means of democracy as Barker was right in his
saying. Party has ceased to be the invisible government and has become not only the visible
but acknowledged government in democracy as what Finer has aptly advocated. Allan R.
Ball is of the view that it is difficult to imagine modern political system without Political
parties. One party system is the essential machinery of a democratic form of governance.
Party less democracy might have been a feasible proposition in a small Greek City State but
it is nothing less than a utopia in modern democratic set-up. that is why Lowell has pointed
out that the conception of government by the whole people in any targe nation is of course a
chimera; for Wherever the suffrage is wide, parties are certain to exit and the control must
really be in the hands of a party that Compromises a majority or a rough approximation to a
majority or the people. The party less democracy of the father of the nation Mahatma Gandhi,
Loknayak Jai Prakash Narayan. Achary Vinoba Bave and others is now far from the worla of
political reality. Even the newly commenced Constitutional Panchayati Raj Institutions in the
The Indian Journal of Political Science 374
various state of India are not free from the involvement of political parties at grass root levels of
power politics.
Democratic government in concrete terms means majority government and the questions
of majority and minority are best settle in the presence and operation of well recognized
political parties. Without political parties, there can be no unified statement of principle, no
orderly evolution of policy, no regular resort to the constitutional device of parliamentary
election nor of course any of the recognized institutions by means of which a party seeks of
gain or maintain power.
Thus, the party system is modern growth. Apter, Blondel, Brewester, Brown, Dahl,
Dean, Duverger, Grahamwallas, Hening, Lecock, Maristt, Merrianm, Neumann, Finder,
Polambara, Powell, Salt, Schuman, Weber, Weiner and other have narrated in detail about
the necessity and vital role of the political parties in modern democratic form of a governments
as well governments formed by the communistic and socialistic pattern of societies. They
have a great role to play particularly in newly liberated countries of Asia, Africa and Latin
America from the yoke of cononialism & imperalism.
‘Why do we need political parties’ In inherently attached with this question what a
political party is? Edmund Burek was the first Modern statement was answered this question
by defining political party as a body of man united for promoting by their joint endeavour the
national interest upon some particular principle in which they are agreed. Maciver is of the
opinion that a political party as an association organized in support of some principle or
policy which by constitutional means it endeavour to make the determinant of government.
Austin Ranny gives due importance to the politics by stating that is essentially a contest
among human groups for influence over the policies of the government. Political party is a kind
of political group. He further states that a political party is an autonomous organizational
group that make nominations and contest elections in the hope of eventually getting and
exercising control of the personneland policies of government. Friedrich focuses on its conceptual
clarity by noting that a political party is a group of human beings, stably organized with
objective of securing or maintaining for its leaders the control of a government and with the
further objective of giving to members of the party through such control, ideal and national
benefits and advantage. Gilchrist observes by highlighting that a political party may be defined
as an organized group of citizens who profess to share the same political view and who by
acting as political prevail. To do so, it is necessary to control the legislature in the state. To
control legislature means that party representatives must be in a majority in the legislature.
Political parties, therefore, are highly organized in order to manage elections, the more members
they can command the more control they have over legislature.
If we go in detail we find all the functions and role performed by the political patties
Rising Roles of ‘Nirdalyas’ 375
move around the ideas propagated by a group of American writers Alan R. Ball, Finer and a
galaxy of thinkers mentioned earlier. One of the most important functions of political parties is
that of uniting, simplifying and stabilizing the political process. They struggle for power and
strive to form order out of chaos. They provide a link between the government and the people.
They seek to educate, instruct and activate the electorate. Of course, political educations to
the masses are provided by the cadres of the parties. The incessant propaganda and activities
carried on by the political parties in favour of their candidates and policies against the candidates
and programmers of the opposition proves highly informative to an average voter. Bryce has
beautifully said that the political parties keep a nation’s mind alive as the rise and fall of the
sweeping tide freshens the water of long ocean inlets.
While increasing the scope of political activity and widening popular participation, they
perform input function of recruiting political leaders. They set value goals for the society. They
present, define and classify the issue for the electorate. They do have ideological and
philosophical bases, no matter how blurred and no matter how divorced from the actual political
behavior of the party they are. They do the job of political modernization particularly in the
newly liberated countries of Third World. They perform social welfare functions. They are not
only essential as the conductor of government in parliamentary democracy but also as the
critic of government. Role of opposition performed by one of more political parties is to check
and balance the power of government. Even in presidential from of democracy, they serve as
coordinating factors between the organs of the governments. Social, cultural, religious
educational, economic, historical and ideological factors are important denominators of the
party.
What are the reason for these failures of these qualitative political parties in a society
like Bihar? They have to be focused here, though details of the rise of Nirdaliyas would be
chalked out a little later. Complexities in our multi-lingual, multicultural and multi-religious
society like ours are responsible too. Inter-personal sour relationship, asocial rituals, destructive
elements, anti-social lumpens, poisonous communal feelings, caste-consideration, Kinship
relations, religious fanaticism, immoral acts, value-free educational system, height of poverty,
rising unemployment, bone breaking price-hike, deserted economy, burning indebted farmers,
down -trodden agricultural laborers, half-ed industrial workers, growing kidnapping industries,
corrupt administration, politicization of criminals, heinous politics, greedy power-elites, caste-
class based militant sena ( Ranveer Sena Lorik Sena, Brahamrish Sena, Sri Krishna Sena,
La! Sena and many more) path- finder Naxaiites, peace- seeker Maoists, false-fighter terrorists
etc have added fuel to the frustrated youth and masses. It won’t be wrong in assessing in this
concern that almost all political parties have failed In nurturing and cultivating them.
Affected social life, artificial character, vested interests, minority discontent, regional
disparity, curtailments of individual freedom factional politics, pressure-group, party interest,
376
The Indian Journal of Political Science
weak opposition, party amenity, multi-party (more than 7 national and 30 regional) etc. are
responsible factors for the failure of political that further contributed to the of Nirdaliyas.
Rise of Nirdaliyas :
Ail the demerits of the political parties some mentioned earlier are the contributory
elements of the rise of Nirdaliyas. T ruly speaking, silent features of political parties have been
gradually declining to strengthen of Nirdaliyas. All the merits matter for the political parties
don’t matter for the independent contestants in electoral politics. Non-committed ideology,
factionalism, immoral practices, weak opposition, interest groups, non-partisan politics, political
and electoral behavior, voting pattern electoral mechanism, role of media both press and
electronics, social taboos, economic backwardness, poverty, illiteracy, multiparty system
and many more stated above are responsible factors for weakening a successful political
party and strengthening non-political politics and Nirdaliyas. These all factors are visible in the
case study of the 14th Lok Sabha Election in Bihar.
Ideology attempts to be a description of political reality and blue print of action. It is a
means of legitimizing the government and the policies of the government. It is system of
action related value. In broad, ideology is defined as a self-contained and self-justifying-belief
system based on a definite worldview. It claims to provide a basis for explaining the whole of
reality. It proceeds with certain assumption about the nature of man and builds on their basis
a theory of human history, a moral code of conduct, a sense of mission and a programme for
action. Of course, ideologies claim to embody the whole truth and adherence to a particular
ideological system is considered to be both a rational and moral act. Those who subscribe to
a particular ideology take it to be their duty to propagate it an achieve total conformity to it.
It is because of this ideological commitment political parties are bound with and failed
in getting other things that bind the interests of the people. Ideological framework of the party
is an important factor in how the party sees its relationship with the rest of the political system
and hence it has an important bearing on the structure of the political party. Ideologies of a
particular party are reflected in the manifesto through which promises of the party are made
for the future course of action in the interests of masses or for some communities or sections
of the society. Now it is a ‘rasmadaygi’ (formality or ritual performance) only. It has become
a bundle of lies and useless document. Even party activists do not bother for this ‘promise-
dairy’. That is why once our ex-Dy. Prime Minister Devi Lai responded to the media by
saying, “Arey Bhai, Manifesto to likhne-wala bhi na padhte" ( O my brother, even the writer of
the manifesto does not go through it). It is blamed to be a means of befooling and cheating the
masses. It is a kind of bundle that the promise-breaker politicians used to bear with them.
The party interest supersede all. Almost all political parties have, practically speaking,
Rising Roles of ‘Nirdafyas’ 377
become principleless. For example BJP has not been comiittted to its original stand for
Hindutva’, Uniform Civil Code of conduct and Art. 370 related to the state of Jammu & Kashmir.
They keep moving sometimes forwared and sometimes backward. This party compromised to
grab the power at the centre as well as the state levels. The end, the destination, was also
distorted ideologically from ‘Hindu Rashtra’ to ‘ Gandhian Socialism’ to Monastic Humanism’
to ‘Cultural Nationalism’. In our multi-party democratic system, no party can claim whether
Rightist or Leftist or Centralists to remain committed to the things for that they are formed and
existed.
Factionalism has been very important factor contributing to the rise of Nirdaliyas. Congress
Party was broken into many times after 1 967. We have witnessed in 1 967, 1 969, 1 980, 1 990
at the centre and other occasions in the state of Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu. We have
the history of the left Bifurcation in 1964, 1974 and in 1980s in Bihar. Janata Party of Lok
Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan in 1 977 became not less than a big banyan tree that had many
roots rooted in the ground but later uprooted by their ideological crises though it was a clash
of personality - cult. From time to time all these personalities of social justice and champions
formed their own party by breaking the main one. Some of them are known as Janta Party (s),
Bhartiya Janata Party, Samjwadi Janta Party, Lok Dal, Lok Dal (T), Lok Dal (C) Dalit Mazdoor
Kisan Party, Samajwadi Party, Bahujan Smaj Party, Rashtriya Lok Dal, Indian National Lok
Dal, Janata Dal (S), Biju Janta Dal, Rashtriya Janata Dal, Samata Party, Lok Janshkti party
and more. There are many hostile camps within a political party. ‘Moibhav’ or ‘Kharid-frost’
{bargaining in cash or kind) has become very popular phenomenon these days in the struggle
for power. During the crisis hour of the formation of Coalition government, leaders come out
openly without the fear of the people and of the media. Jharkhand and Bihar have faced this
situation. Sometimes the whole ministry (example, Bhajandal government in Haryana) changed
its colour to the colour of the party it sides.
Caste, kinship, relgion, dynastic domination etc. play key role in power game. Sometimes
Party also fills fake candidates to defeat the competitors. ‘Votekatwa’ (few votes grabbers)
candidates play important role in getting their caste or party or kinship candidates elected or
defeated. After election Nirdaliyas join the party which provides the post of their choice.
Tow or more political parties make alliance not only to win but also to defeat the enemy
party or alliance. After the electoral defeat, they join hands together to reach the magic
number to form the Government. Now this coalition culture is responsible for the rise of
Nirdaliyas because they are more benefited and successful in grading power in their own
hands. We have witnessed peculiar combination of congress with other parties In Bihar,
Karnataka, Maharastra and Kashmir.
Opposition parties play key role In a democracy by controlling, checking and balancing
378
The Indian Journal of Political Science
the parties in power. But these they don’t pay attention to the basic problems and causes of
the people. Kinship, Self-interest, Criminalization, Scandals, Kidnapping, Bahubbali (Power
elites) etc. are the hurdles on the way of democratization and efficiency. Oppositions are only
for the sake of opposition. Democracy is a government in which every one has a share, but
practically it doesn’t happen, poverty, illiteracy, booth-capturing, threat of life, bogus voting
etc. are the snakes to bit the innocent voters. Majority has become the means of minority
suppression. Very few candidates win the election with a simple majority of more than 50
percent that we will see later in this area of analysis. It is because of this coalition concept,
after formation-of the formation of the government it becomes mandatory to prove a simple
majority on the floor of the house. Sometimes party’s stand and logic go against the wishes of
the dominant personalities within the party and also against the public opinion. Handling of
Ayoudhya issue, operation of Golden temple and tackling of terrorism went against the interests
of congress party. BJP was also blamed in the case of demolition of Babri Masjid (mosque).
Artificial and unreal arguments don’t work in reality in the long run.
Individual respects and wishes do suffer in a democracy when leader impose their
dictatorial attitute in handling the general issue. Congress, BJP and other regional parties like
RJD, Trinmul Congress, BJD etc. were in the limelight recently. Nehru-Indra dynasty rule the
national party like Congress through out. People still remember how the party president from
outside Nehru family Sitaram Kesari was thrown out. Party structure is pyramidal and follows
the decision by scalar-process from down to up and from up to down. Left and centralist party
take decision at central level instead of taking at the level below. This hierarchical process
takes too much time and hampers the speedy work concerning the masses. Political party
without legal responsibility makes a mockery in the governance. This system has created
dual government. ln,.one party system, a decision is a decision of both the party and the
government. Boss at the top has to carry the executive governmental decision. That is why
Steffen asserts that the party system is an organization of social treason and the boss in the
chief traitor. Partyless democracy is working at the local level. Some of the states like Bihar
does not dare to conduct elections to the Panchayati Raj Institution on party line. It can work
in small nations like Nepal but can not work here successfully. We are not living in the era of
the Greek City State today. Charismatic leadership sometimes plays vital role in a party.
Gandhi, J.P., Lohia, Nehru, Indira and Vajpayee were popular in the parties they belonged.
Today at regional level some names like Lalu, Nitish, Rambilas, Mamta, Jaylalita and Mayavati
are focused. Failure of Socio-economic development, organizational structure, lack of discipline,
hijacked press, prevailing of multi-party system (more than 657 registered bu derecognized)
etc. are also contributory factors led to the rise of Nirdaliyas.
Scenario of the 14th Lok Sabha General Election, 2004 :
Result of the 14th Lok Sabha General Election, 2004 in Bihar went in the favour of
Rising Roles of ‘Ntrdalyas’ 379
Rastriya Janata Dal (RJD). It won 22 seats out of total 40 In Bihar with 30.6 percent of votes
polled. Other UPA (United Progressive Alliance) partners Lok Janshakti Party (UP) and
Congress (INC- Indira) won 4 (8.1 9%) seats respectively. NDA (National Democratic Alliance)
share 1 1 seats only (against the UPA of 29) divided into JD (U) (Janta Dal- United) and BJP (
Bhartiya Janta Party) as 6 (22.36%) and 5 (14.57%) respectively. No any other political party
as well Nirdaliyas won a single seat from Bihar. But Nirdaliya’s performance was really
surprising that we will see a little later. FIGURE-1 shows Party-wise performance of recognized
parties in details-
Source : Election Commission of India, Patna
By Sa’ aadat Hasan Mintoo
Asst. Chief Election Officer-cum- A. Secretary, Patna
The result of the 14th Lok Sabha has Witnessed the rising number of non-political
participants. For instance, Patna Constituency (the biggest amongst all 40) in Bihar now (54
with Jharkhand), 1 2 contestants (more than 50%) out of total 23 were independent. They all
secured 1 7733 votes (around 2%) out of total valid votes polled 901616 (54.78%) against total
electors 1741220. Even Samajwadi Party of Mulayam Sing and Rastriya Lok Da! of A|it
Singh remained trailing behind (writer’s earlier published Micro- study in Anupam Uphaar,
Patna, Voi-ll, No. 16, Sept. 2004)
In this election, very few MPs have secured more than 50% votes polled. The total
number is 1 1 only. The FIGURE-2 illustrates their nos. of parties with percentage of votes
secured individually in their respective constituencies -
Rising Roles of ‘Nirdalyas’
380
Figure-2
P.P. Secured Pore than 50% Votes Polled
JD (U
RJD
UP
Cong.
1 . Ram Vilas Paswan, Hajipur (6172%)
2. Meera Kumar, Sasaram (59.76)
3. Ali Ahmad Fatmi, Darghanga (56.08)
4. Ram Chandra Paswan, Rosera (55.23)
5. JaiPrakashNarayan.Munger (54.38)
6. Nitish Kumar, Nalanda (52.65)
7. Rajesh Kr. Manjhi, Gaya (52.62)
8. Taslimuddin, Kishanganj, (51 .68)
9. Akhiiesh Pd. Singh, Motihari (51 .33)
Lalu Prasad, Chapra (51 .31 )
381
Rising Roles of ‘NirdaSyas’
If we have a cursory look upon General Election Scenario of all 40 constituencies in
Bihar, then we could gather all important information regarding this psephological analysis.
Total votes, valid votes, polled votes in percentage and the number of total contestants both
party and independent-wise figure in the Table given below -
Table-1
Electlori Scenario of the 14th Lok Sabha, 2004 In Bihar
S.N.
Constituency
Total
Valid
Votes
% Polled
No. of
contestants
No. of
P.P.
No. of
I.C.**
1
Ara
1359515
787399
57.92
11
8
3
2.
Araria
1184959
646144
54.53
13
8
5
3.
Aurangabad
1401973
767238
54.73
13
7
6
4.
Bagaha
1160275
570882
49.02
11
9
2
5.
Balia
1181425
632343
53.52
11
B
3
6.
Banka
1213691
713888
58.82
11
5
6
7.
Barh
1242851
864102
69.53
8
6
2
8.
Baxar
1222441
649158
53.01
11
7
4
9
Begusarai
1278758
678667
53.07
9
6
3
10.
Bettiah
1278163
569909
44.56
14
7
7
11.
Bhagalpur
1388037
757287
54.56
10
6
4
12
Bikramganj
1298224
733986
56.54
16
8
8
13.
Chapra
1164917
446101
38.03
9
: 5
4
14
Darbhanga
1202100
762657
63.44
9
5
4
15.
Gaya
1436323
883403
61.05
12
8
4
16.
Gopalganj '
1231178
694492
56.41
10
7
3
17.
Hajipur
1208834
773597
64.00
8
7
■ ■*,
18.
Jahanabad
1246756
863843
69.29
14
7
'.7:
19.
Jhanjharpur
1163817
704243
60.50
9
6
; .'3..
The Indian Journal of Political Science
382
20.
Katihar
1158044
704449
60.83
14
6
8
21.
Khagariya
1197045
676017
56.47
9
6
3
22.
Kishanganj
1278476
813315
63.62
10
4
6
23.
Madehepura
1187490
695674
58.58
12
6
6
24.
Madhubani
1257633
695146
55.27
10
7
3
25.
Maharajganj
1114665
664434
59.61
11
4
7
26.
Motihari
1221716
675844
55.58
10
4
6
27.
Mujaffarpur
1237345
784096
63.37
14
7
7
28.
Monger
1310042
882978
64.12
9
7
2
29.
Nalanda
1311901
762657
68.23
13
7
6
30.
Nawada
1505544
1010037
67.09
14
6
8
31.
Patna
1741220
901616
54.78
23
11
12
32.
Pumea
1179491
709015
60.11
15
9
6
33.
Rosera
1245392
713798
57.32
9
6
3
34.
Saharsa
1286709
738280
57.38
10
7
3
35.
Samastipur
1433793
767238
60.22
13
6
7
36.
Sasaram
1291800
697268
53.98
11
7
4
37.
Sheohar
1214428
666398
54.87
9
5
4
38.
Sitamarhi
1265132
690851
54.61
13
5
8
39.
Siwan
1054441
637549
60.46
8
5
3
40.
Vaishati
1197345
748759
62.53
16
6
10
460
259
201
*PP = Political Parties
Independent Contestant (Total Nirdaliyas Shares 43.7% of votes)
SOURCE: ELECTION COMMISSION OF INDIA, PATNA
Rising Roles of ‘Nirdaiyas’
There were 460 contestants altogether divided into two segments of political parties
and independent as 259 and 201 respectively. The percentage of Nirdalaya candidates contested
this 14th Lok Sabha General Election, 2004 in Bihar is around 43.7.
When we cast our focus on the percentage of votes secured by each constituency we
trace that in the dependent contestants of Vaishali stood 1st by scoring 38.94% of votes
followed by the two other segments of Buxar 2dn (25.10%) and Gopaiganj 3rd (21.25%).
Details are computed in the Table-2
Table-2
Constituency-wise Votes Secured by the Independent Contestants
S.N.
Constituencies
HpiHi
% of Votes Secured*
1
Vaishali
38.94
2.
Buxar
25.10
3.
Gopaiganj
21.25
4.
Ara
20.00
5.
Maharajganj
18.32
6.
Purnea
17.04
7.
Bettiah
12.81
8.
Begusarai
11.40
9.
Samastipur
10.02
10.
Katihar
06.37
11.
Balia
06.18
12.
Nawada
06.10
13.
Araria
05.65
14.
Chapra
05.59
15.
Kishanganj
04.99
16.
Madhepura
04.91
17.
Bikramganj
04.47
18.
Saharsa
04.29
19.
Sitamarhi
03.93
20.
Bhagalpur
03.82
21.
Rosera
03.48
22.
Dharbhnaga
03.44
in
The Indlao Journal of Political Science
23.
Khagaria
03.00
24.
Bagaha
02.98
25.
Jhanjharpur
02.78
26.
Mujaffarpur
02.65
27.
Siwan
02.63
28.
Banka
2.53
29.
Sheohar
2.41
30.
Aurangabad
02.33
31.
Patna
01.97
32.
Motihari
01.76
33.
Madhubani
01.66
34.
Barh
01.48
35.
Nalanda
01.35
36.
Sasaram
01.16
37.
Hajipur
01.08
38.
Jahanabad
01,03
39.
Gaya
00.95
40.
Munger
00.94
384
* Totalled by the writer
SOURCE: ELECTION COMMISSION OF INDIA, PATNA
Rising Roles of ‘Mirdalyas’
385
Table-3
Votes and Rank Secured by the Independent Contestants
S.N.
Independent
Contestants
Constituencies
Valid Votes
Polled
Votes
Secured
%
Rank*
1
Vijay Kr. Shukla
Vaishali
748759
255568
34.13
2nd
2 .
Dadan Singh
Baxar
649158
151114
23.28
2nd
3.
Kali Pd. Pandey
Gopalganj
694492
136424
19.64
3m
4.
Brahmeshwar N. Singh
Ara
787399
148973
15.02
Sru
5.
Dr. Mahachandra Prasad
Maharajganj
664434
90807
15.02
3"
6 .
Km. Suman Singh
Begusarai
678667
61352
09.04
3'“
7.
Jeewachh Paswan
Purnea
709015
57021
08.04
3m
8 .
Sheel Kr. Roy
Samastipur
767238
54807
07.00
3ra
9.
Banwaii Ram
Nawada
1010037
52384
05.19
3rd
10 .
Suresh Kr. Azad
Saharsa
738280
15415
02.09
3rd
11 .
Safi Ahamad
Dharbhanga
762657
13546
01.78
3rd
12 .
Raj an Tiwari
Bettiah
569909
32759
05.75
4“’
13.
Brajesh Kumar
Chapra
466101
10753
02.41
4‘"
14.
Lai Chand Ram
Rosera
713798
16820
02.36
4'"
15.
Sato Mandal
Madhepura
695674
16673
01.68
4m
16.
Rajendra Mahto
Begusarai
678667
10276
01.51
4 -
17.
Tithin Yadav
Banka
713888
8929
01.25
4m
18.
Sanjay Kumar
Jhanjharpur
704243
8194
01.16
4m
T97”'
Shyam Kr. Paswan
Muzaffarpur
784096
7684
00.98
4‘"
20.
S.N. Writer
Araria
646144
11837
01.83
5"
21.
Girija Prasad Singh
Bikamganj
733986
12438
01.69
5tir
22.
Sunil Chaudhary
Bhagalpur
757287
01.61
23.
S.S. Thakur
Kishanganj
813315
12261
01.51
5'*’
24.
S.N. Roy
Samastipur
767238
10391
01.33
5^^
25.
Devendra Mukhiya
i Saharsa
738280
8964
01.21
- 5 ®
26.
Lalan Ram
Hajipur
773597
1 8322
01.08
S'"
27.
S.C. Ram
Vaishali
748759
' 7930
01.06
28.
S.K. Singh
Barh
864102
7983
00.92
5*^
29.
R.S. Shah
Sheohar
666398
5343
00.08 ;
5“’
30.
S.P. Jaiwal
Motihari
675844
5671
00.48
5"’
31.
Fanilal Shah
Banka
713888
3447
00,48
5^"
The Indian Journal of Political Science
Total: 2nci = Two
386
3rd = Nine
4th = Eight
*5th = Twelve
SOURCE ; ELECTION COMMISSION OF INDIA, PATNA
It constitutes the rank the highest 2nd to the lowest 5th. All those names of Independent
contestants who failed in securing less percentage than mentioned above have not been
counted here. They study also reveals the fact that 2 contestants got 2nd, 9 received the
status of 3rd, 8 stood 4th and 1 2 place the 5th ran. It provides the names of contestants with
the constituencies from where they contested. It also made an attempt to highlight the valid
votes polled and votes secured by them individually.
An empirical study of ‘Nirdaliyas involvement in central power- politics deary specifies
that Independent Contestants are 78 against that the total strength of political parties 57 in 1 0
constituencies in Bihar. They out-number political parties by 21 more. The details are
incorporated in the table-4 esteemed below-
387
SOURCE; ELECTION COMMISSION OF INDIA, PATNA
The investigation of 1 0 such constituencies results that this segment of Parliamentary
constituencies of Bihar covers 25% area of analysis. It reflects that the masses are more
conscious and don’t have firm faith in degrading Political Parties existing today. They seem to
be aware of their Political rights and fundamental duties.
The study also reveals this fact the Nirdaliyas of 5 constituencies are equally to those
thatof Political Parties. It covers 12.5% constituencies of Bihar. If added to the earlier one, it
becomes a total of 38 percent. Figure-3 made below reckons these facts
Figure-3
Belt
1. Bi,
SOURCE : ELECTION COMMISSION OF INDIA, PATNA
No Constituency in Bihar goes without the representation of Independent contestants.
Though, Hajipur is the only constituency where a single Independent contestant contested
the single seat against seven candidates of political parties were in the ,fray.
Concluding Observations :
All the facts in the form of Tables and figures narrated provide some observations to be
concluded here. All the factors responsible for the rise of Nirdaliyas are interrelated. We must
heed each and very aspect that degrading political ideology, process and parties. The level of - j
socio-economic and educational development influences the nature of the party competition.
Caste and religious differences should be chalked out in the interest of party and the nation
not in the individuals. Marxism and communism should be applied in the Indian context of
Rising Roles of ‘Nlrdalyas’
** P.P. = Political Parties
The Indian Journal of Political Science
388
agrarian society. We know that Marxism is a mixed non-vegetarian of Hegelistic dialect,
British capitalist economy and French socialism. Ideals of our constitution and the dreams
of the Fathers of the Nation and fore fathers should not be shattered by the leaders interested
in their own all round development and in vested interests. Rightists, Leftist and Centralists
must understand the societal context of highly mutireligious and culturally very rich societies
like ours. Ail have to struggle against illiteracy, poverty unemployment and the very poor
infrastructural management that hampers our political development, modernization and change.
Rig Vedic culture and world wide appreciated civilization must be fused in our political walk
of life philosophical formation and moral standards must be substantiated while compiling our
manifestoes. They should be sincerely and honestly implemented and the impression of a
bundle of lies should be disinclined. Parties are creation of modern political processes and
their emergence presupposes a necessary degree of urbanization, democratization and
development of mass communication.
Political and electoral behavior, voting pattern, polling arrangements, role of election
commission for free and fair elections, laws and rules for uprooting corruption and scandals,
legitimacy of manifestoes. Party-structures, discouragement of partyiess democracy, political
discipline, responsible and conscious citizens, campaigning methods, role of media both
print and electronic, strong opposition, oligarchic leadership, dynastic domination, pyramidal
structure of the party, growing multi-party system, voting techniques, voting materials, individual
thinking, coalition culture, ticket distribution irrespective of caste, kingship, sex and religion,
dedicated cadres, equal treatment and respect, party members democratization, standing
above self and igo, removing poverty and unemployment to crush terrorism, regional development,
land reforms to nab naxalism, good governance, law and order and many more headings may
be mentioned here to stop the rising of Nirdailyas and degradation and decay of political
parties.
REFFRENCES :
* Apter, D and Eckstein, H, (pd.) Comparative Politics, Fee Press of Glecoe, New York,
1963.
* Ball, A.R., Modern Politics and Government, Macmillan, London, 1 971 .
* Blondel, J, An Introduction to Comparative Government, widen field & Nicholson, London,
1969.
* Bryce, James, Modern Democracies, Vol. I, pp, 134-35
* Curtis, Michael, Comparative Government and Politics, Harper & Row, Yew York, 1 968.
* Duverger, Maurice, Political Parties, Methuen, London, 1964.
* Kothari.Rajni, PartySystem and Election Studies, CDS Delhi, 1980
Rising Roles of ‘Nirdalyas’ 389
Kuman, K.N., “The Ideology of the Janata Party” Indian Journal of Political Science,
vol XXXIX N0.-4, 1987
* Lowell, Public Opinion and Popular Government, Pp, 96-97.
* Marriot, Mechanism of the Modern State, vol. II. P 431
Maciver, R.M., The Modern State, Oxford University Press, London, 1 984.
Mehta, Usha “Multi-Party System and Coalition Government” Janata, Independence
Day Number 1979
* Mukhopadhya, A.K. Political Sociology, K.P. Bagchi and Co., Calcutta, 1977
* Palombara, J.L. and weiner, Myron, Political Parties and Political Development, Princeton
University, Press, (Princeton 1966)
* Sartori, Giovanni, Parties and Party System, Vol, I. P. 94
* Sadasivan, S.N., Party and Democracy in India, P. 252
* Verney, An Aniysis of Political System, Routledge and Kegan Paul, London, 1959
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The Indian Journal of Political Science
Vol. LXVIli, No. 2, Apr.-Jun., 2007
THE POLITICS OF TRIBAL RESISTANCE IN ORISSA
Sarb&swar Sahoo
Explaining the politics of resistance in Orissa, the paper makes three arguments.
Firstly, the fear of the uncertain future, and the cultural meaning attached to the
geographical notions of ‘place' provide important perspectives in understanding the
relations of power, domination and the politics of collective resistance. Secondly, the
threat of material interest serves as an organizing principle in politicizing identity and
interest groups against the outside authority. And finally, the magnitude of resistance
intensifies when the grievances of the people are treated in an unresponsive and
oppressive manner. In an industrialized India the destruction of the aboriginal's life is
as inevitable as the submergence of the Egyptian temples caused by the dams of the
Nile.... As things are going there can be no grandeur in the primitive's end. It will not be
even simple extinction, which is not the worst of human destinies. It is to be feared that
the aboriginal's last act will be squalid, instead of being tragic. What will be seen with
most regret will be, not his disappearance, but his enslavement and degradation.
NIRAD C. CHAUDHURI. The Continent of Circe, 1965^
Introduction
Contemporary Indian society is pockmarked with issues of conflict and competing
struggles of classes and communities and caught in a ‘double contradiction’^ (Singh 2001) of
modernity and development on the one hand and displacement, marginalization and collective
resistance on the other. Collective resistance by different groups and communities^ in defense
of community, livelihood and identity is a response to the hegemonic and homogenizing
project of modernity and capitalist development which perceives nature as “externa!” to society
and encourages the belief that nature is an infinitely exploitable domain."^
Based on the above background, the paper seeks to highlight some of the central
issues related to the dynamics of development and its repercussions for tribal peoples in the
state of Orissa. The central questions it examines are why does collective resistance occur
where they do and how are the actions and options of social movement agents shaped by and
also impact on social structures? What inspires and empowers people to resist and to reveal
the character and spirit of the cultural expressions of resistance? Addressing these questions,
the paper makes three basic arguments. Firstly, peoples’ resistance in Kashipur block^ of
Orissa is driven by fear of the uncertain future and the expected repercussions of the state
planned industrialization process and intrusion of various transnational corporations which
evict people from their traditional sources of livelihood and sustenance such as the land and
forest. It also argues that the geographical notions of ‘place’ - where social structure and
social relations intersect, and the cultural meaning attached to it by the people provide important
perspectives to understand the relations of power, domination and the politics of collective
resistance. Secondly, resistance occurs when the material Interests of the people are at
risk®. This serves to stimulate organizing the affected people Into politicized interest group
associations to fight collectively against the economic and political deprivation caused by the
The Indian Journal of Political Science
392
outside authority. And finally, the magnitude of resistance intensifies when the grievances of
the people are treated in an unresponsive and oppressive manner. In this context, hitherto
existing relations of the agencies of the state with the people (civil society) provide an important
insight into the nature of collective resistance. Based on these arguments the paper has been
divided into three sections besides a brief introduction and some tentative conclusions.
Development, Displacement and Resistance^
Located on India’s east coast, Orissa despite its generous endowment of mineral wealth,
forests, lakes, rivers, a long coastline, and a rich and ancient history with vast untapped
potential for both cuitura! and eco-tourism, has been suffering from ‘extreme poverty’® . Due to
the ‘central neglect’, ‘unequal allocation of resources’ in economic sphere and ‘administrative
apathy’, the state has been denied of a ‘fair deal’ in provincial autonomy and central subsidies
right from the colonial period. This consequently colored the Oriyas’ self-image as backward
and marginal group in India’s polity, democracy and the discourse of development (Sengupta
2001:179-181).
In this context, economic liberalization gives the historically neglected Oriyas for the
first time an opportunity to look beyond the state and, in a sense, globalize the question of
their development. In his eagerness to bring development to Orissa the then chief minister,
Biju Patnaik openly invited investment from the country and overseas to set up various plants,
and refineries (Sengupta 2001 :1 84) to modernize the state. Surveys indicate that Baphili Mali
plateau® occurring in the border areas of Rayagada and Kalahandi districts of Orissa has
about 196 million tones of bauxite (Das 2001) which attracted many multinational companies
to set up their plants for the extraction of bauxite. Along with this heavy reserve of bauxite in
the area, the establishment of plants goes back to the mid 1 980s when Kashipur faced a
terrible draught. Starvation deaths reported in the national media led the then Prime Minister
Rajiv Gandhi to visit Kashipur and to formulate some plans for the development of the tribal
population of the region. Various agreements were signed with diverse multinational companies
as a part of tribal development project which led company after company to queue in to the
area.
Thus, the choices of these locations for industrialization are two fold. The most important
one is, as put by the Chief Minister of Orissa in an interview with The Business Today (2004),
its massive iron and bauxite reserves which need to be exploited. Estimates support that 70
percent of India’s bauxite reserves are located here (Menon 2005). And the second one is
related to what Vender Elwin called ‘the controversy of isolation, assimilation or integration’.
The proponents of the industrialization projects argue that, for their own good, the ‘backward
and savage tribals need to be assimilated into the modern mainstream. Under the present
circumstances, tribals are condemned to a life of impoverishment and exploitation; their progress
lies in becoming a part of the ‘modern’, ‘developed’ along the common trajectory towards
industrialization and urbanization (Baviskar 1997: 106). But, how true the assertion that
393
The Politics of Tribal Resistance In Orissa
‘assimilation’ is beneficial for tribal progress is a matter of disputation.
The Utkal Alumina Internationa! (UAIL), a consortium of Norsk Hydro (45 percent shares)
of Norway, ALCAN (35 percent shares) of Canada and INDAL (20 percent shares) of India have
been trying to start work in the Kashipur block of Rayagada district for the past few years. But
they have been facing collective resistance by the tribals of the area. The questions why do
the tribals resist the development projects and why do conflicts arise? Paul Routledge (1 999;
76) explains that
“Capital-intensive schemes have displaced traditional and subsistence economies which
are labor-intensive and Western values (of capitalist production, economic growth) have
been emphasized at the expense of indigenous and traditional system of knowledge, economy
and culture.... In the process, traditional subsistence economies and their associated cultures
are destroyed; people face displacement from their homes and lands, lose access to their
resources, and become economically marginalized."
Statistical figures indicate that in Orissa till 2000, about 20 lakh people have been
directly affected by development projects in varying degrees out of which about 5 lakh have
been physically displaced losing their home and hearth from their original habitat. Statistical
figures further indicate that while dam/irrigation projects alone have displaced nearly 3.5 lakh
people which is roughiy 70% of the totai displaced persons, industrial projects have displaced
about 60,000 people which is 1 2% of the total displaced whereas the mining projects, urban
development projects, thermal projects and wild life sanctuaries have displaced 3.37%, 12.86%,
2.60% and 0.5% of the total displaced people in the state of Orissa. Although the above
referred figures account for the already completed projects, there are a host of other projects
which are either ongoing or are in the pipeline in which about 2 lakh more people are expected
to be displaced.
According to an estimate, in the case of Utkal Alumina 1 ,750 hectares of land will be
required for mining, the plant site, a township, and dumping spots where more than 2100
families in two dozen villages stand to lose their land, including 370 families who would lose all
their lands. Estimates of the people negatively affected by the Utkal project range from 750
(Hydro's estimate), to 3500 (Utkal's estimate) to 60,000 (Norwegian Agency for Development
Cooperation estimate). According to a news report, mining in Orissa has created 50,000
environmental refugees and on the whole 1 .4 million people mostly tribals have been displaced
by developmental projects in Orissa alone (Ota 2001 ).
in addition to this high magnitude of displacement, the rehabilitation history of Orissa
and India also stimulates to resistance process. According to an estimate, out of the total
displaced people more than 74 percent are still waiting for rehabilitation (see Table: 1 below).
And in Orissa, in the Indravati dam project”'® nearly 5000 families were displaced and few of
them were adjusted in rehabilitation colonies and others are left in distress (Sarangi 2002).
The Indian Journal of Political Science
394
The resettlement policies also fail to take into account the role of environmental and common-
property resources in the pre-displacement economy and the quality of life that are threatened
by the resettlement process such as family ties and community participation (Singh 1 997: 5)
gives impetus to the vibrancy of the resistance process.
Table: 1
A Conservative Estimate of Displacement and Rehabilitation by
Various Projects (1 951 -1 990)
Type of
Total
No. of the
Persons Not
% of Not
Project
Displaced
Rehabilitated
Rehabilitated
Rehabilitated
Mines
25,50,000
6,30,000
19,20.000
75.29
Dams
1,64,00,000
41,00,000
1,23,00,000
75.00
Industries
12,50,000
3,75,000
8,75,000
70.00
Wildlife
6,00,000
1,25,000
4,75,000
79.00
Others
5,00,000
1,50,000
3,50,000
70.00
Total
2,13,00,000
53,80,000
1,59,20,000
74.00
Source: Cited in Kujur, J.M (2005), p.144
Routledge (1 999) also suggests that different groups endow ‘space’ (and its associated
resources) with a variety of different meanings, uses and values. Such differences give rise to
various tensions and conflicts within society over the uses of space for individual and social
purposes, and the control of space by the state and other forms of economic and cultural
power such as transnational corporations. As a-result particular places frequently become
sites of conflict between different groups within society, which reflects concerns about ecology
(struggles to prevent deforestation and pollution), economy (tribal struggle to secure land and
forest for food), culture (struggles to protect integrity of tribal communities), and politics
(struggles for local autonomy). In response to these different concerns, people frequently
organize themselves by actively affirming local identity, culture and systems of knowledge as
integral part of their resistance (Routledge 1999:77).
in Kashipur, in course of time due to the planned industrialization, the tribal lands and
forests became the property of the state and people are debarred from their traditional rights to
use forests for their survival. The planned development projects threatened to displace the
tribal population from their land and forest which has been the nerve centre of the tribal peoples’
economy. Tribal people use land and forest as the main source of food, shelter, culture and
tribal corporate ethos. People attach different cultural meanings to land and forest which have
been indispensable part of their life. As one tribai person expresses the importance of land
and forest in their life
“What is the use of monetary compensation? Money is meant to be spent Once spent there
is nothing left. This land and this forest sustained our forefathers. They are sustaining us now.
They would sustain our children and progenies. We cannot leave them for a fistful of money.
Without land and forest we would not sunrive. We shall not leave our land” (Quoted from
The Politics of Tribal Resistance in Orissa
395
Bandopadhyay 1999)
This is a resource system for survival. Their displacement not only erodes the traditional
sources of livelihood (land, forest, etc.) and uproots people from their community way of life; it
also dismantles their whole system of social organization, class, kinship, neighborhood,
community living, social networks of everyday life and the political autonomy of the host
society. Thus, the self sufficient and independent economic and cultural specificities of Kashipur’s
locale and the defense of these place-particular advantages provide the impetus behind the
emergence of a relentless resistance.
At the level of environment, the tribals struggle to protect their local ecological niche
from the threats of deforestation and pollution. The most important impact on environment is
that dry red mud stacking^ ^ would give rise to huge amounts, nearly 150 tonnes of sodium
hydroxide everyday and substantial quantities of water will be tapped for the refinery (Das
2001) which will affect the lives of the people adversely. To quote Martinez-Allier (quoted in
Routledge 1 999: 78) that “in the developing countries those affected by environmental degradation
- poor tribals - are involved in struggles for economic and cultural survival which he says as
‘environmentalism of the poor’ whose fundamental concerns are the defense of livelihoods and
of communal access to resources threatened by commodification, state take-overs and private
appropriation by transnational corporations.”
At the political level also, these movements challenge the state-centered character of
the political process, articulating critiques of neo-liberal development ideology and the role of
the state, and thereby increasing local autonomy. Panchayats Extension to the Scheduled
Areas (PESA) Act, 1996^^ mandates that ‘gram sabha or the panchayats to be consulted
before making the acquisition of land into the scheduled areas for development projects and
before resettling or rehabilitating persons affected by such projects in the scheduled areas’.
Despite this, the tribal people have no say in the legitimacy of setting up development projects.
The state never consults on the type of development people desire, thus violating the right to
decide their own priorities as a part of right to development as an inalienable human right.
Thus the struggle reflects the political significance.
Identity and Interest
The tribal identity was epitomized by a ‘sense of place’ - to protect the land or the soil
and forest where the tribal life has been constituted. They have been living with it for generations
and their sense of existence is associated with it which creates a common ‘collective
conscience’ among the members of the community referred as the socio-cultural expressions
of their identity. The question here is that how this collective identity is constructed or
reconstructed among the tribal population? And how it helps organizing collective resistance?
According to Surajit Sinha (1958) that the tribal community consciousness is negotiated and
constructed through four basic elements such as habitat, economy, social structure and
State-(Clvil) Society Relations
The Indian Journal of Political Science
ideology and all of them are inseparably built with land and foresf^ . For Baviskar this cultural
identity sets the tribals apart from their dominant non-tribal neighbors as this identity is intrinsic
to a way of life that incorporates distinctive relations with the land, forest and river. Tribal
political action that seeks to secure rights to natural resources has been rooted in this
consciousness of their distinctive tribal identity (Baviskar, 1 997: 104).
According to Klandermans and Weerd (2000) in order to become the binding element of
political protest, collective identity must become politicized. What, then, does make collective
identity politically relevant? The answer to this question is that collectively defined grievances
that produce a 'we’ feeling and causal attributions that denote a ‘they’ that is held responsible
for the collective grievances turn routine in-group-out-group dynamics conflictuai. And if the
out-group is an authority, as in the case of the tribals in Orissa, which is perceived by the in-
group to be unjust, encounter with such an authority rapidly politicize collective identity, that
is, an identity as a group defining itself in opposition against political authorities. This has
especially become true when the state authorities in Orissa appeared to be unresponsive to
group’s claims and responded in an oppressive way through the use of its ‘repressive ruling
apparatus’"''^ like police firing, beating, harassment, false arrest of the common people and
threats.
But the question is that do all the people living in a community participate in the
resistance? As an explanation to this Tonnies argues, when individuals come together guided
by their interests they develop an association (gesellschaft) but living in a community
(gemeinschaft) fosters a feeling of intense solidarity and belongingness, though not based
upon a convergence of interest (Jodhka, 2001 : 1 8). This signifies that those who participate in
the resistance are affected people who formed an association to fight against the political
authority and thereby transformed their identity from a socio-cultural into a political one. For
example, although the tribals and non-tribals have a common socio-cultural consciousness
as members of a community, but all of them do not get displaced from their traditional sources
of livelihood and sustenance such as land and forest. This is why the dalits and upper castes
people do not participate in the movement.'*® This signifies that the politicization of identity is
closely allied with interest association rather being innate to communal living where the former
is formed by the voluntary coming together of the individuals and in the later the individual
choice did not matter.
The state and society relation in Kashipur is a very complex dynamic to understand. It
is commonly considered that the tribals are uneducated, uncivilized, and barbarous. They
remain outside the national mainstream. And, the state has always been trying to co-opt and
assimilate the people and community In the national mainstream. The state creates an
impression that it is benevolent and people can develop within the framework of state
establishment (Majhi). The state uses both what Althusser says ideological and coercive
397
The Politics of Tribal Resistance in Orissa
powers to make people faithful to it. The education system used to civilize the barbarous,
illiterate and uncivilized tribais. Everything in their life Is wrong - their food, dress, way of living
and language - and needs to be refined. Values like national duty and, national development
are coined to give sanctity to the model. The Ideological model, thus, prepares them to be
assimilated into the nation and national mainstream. The state also uses; violent and coercive
means like police firing, indiscriminate arrest, and dragging people to court .when they come
on its way.
The relationship of the tribais with the agencies of state is historically marked by a
sense of dissatisfaction. This is partly because of their frustrating experiences in the past,
partly because of the shabby way in which they are being treated and partly because of the
economic and social uncertainties surrounding their existence (Bandyopadhyay 1 999). The
region has long been neglected by the state and exploited for its natural resources and cheap
labor provided by the tribal inhabitants. This remote region has become an underddveloped-
tribai-hinterland marked by widespread poverty, starvation deaths, large scale misappropriation
and corruption which created an atmosphere of discontent and lack of confidence/trust towards
the state and its agencies. As one tribal person expresses their experience with local
administration: o
“We die of starvation. We die of diseases. The collector never comes to help uBjii%these tragic
moments. Now he has come at the behest of the companies. How can we trust him? (Quoted
from Bandopadhyay 1999)”
Kashipur is inhabited by different classes and communities. Out of the total population
62 percent belong to scheduled tribes, 23 percent scheduled castes and the rest 1 5 percent
are other castes (Pathy 2003). It’s the tribal people who resist the development projects of the
state. The dalits and upper castes do not participate in the movement as they do not possess
land and are not engaged in shifting cultivation. They support the industrialization process in
the area in expectation that they would get job in the company. This signifies what Gramsci
says the hegemonic nature of the state where the state exercises both coercion and consent
over the society. And it is true that the state could never have consent from all its citizens. It
has the consent from certain interest groups whose interests are in conformity with the state
and the rest'*® are seen as opposition and anti-state. Thus, the rejsistance by the tribais could
be seen as a counter hegemonic force to the state hegemony.
The state perceives that an anti-industry movement would tantamount to anti-state
activity. Some of the non-governmental organizations who have been working in the area are
presumed to be working behind inciting the tribais for opposing development and anti-state
activities. The government was determined to leach a lesson’ to the NGOs; as a result of
which four non-governmental organizations^^ were de-registered and deprived of funds from
the state and funding agencies. To suppress the counter-hegemonic reaction by the tribais,
Note : This Is a revised version of the paper presented at The 6th Annua! Gonference of the
Internationa! Social Theory Consortium at National University of Singapore during June 8-1 1 ,
The Indian Journal of Political Science 398
the state asserted to violence and coercive methods of control like people have been beaten
up, fired upon, jailed, lathi charged, harassed and implicated in false cases. It reached its
peak on December 1 6. 2000, when three tribal people were shot and killed by police firing in
Maikanch village. Recently, on January 2, 2006 while peacefully resisting against industrialization
projects of the Government of Orissa, 12 tribal people were shot dead by the police firing in
Kalinga Nagar. The state of Orissa expressed, what Max Weber called, ‘the monopoly of
using legitimate violence’ to suppress the peaceful resistance of the tribals. it is adopting
coercive means or what G ramsci called the war of maneuver (direct military/ violent confrontation)
to suppress people’s resistance and the tribals are adopting the war of positions (struggles in
the cultural and moral realm) to protect their materia! interest and cultural identity (Otero
2004).
Thus, the historical relationship of discontent, lack of trust, poverty, negligence,
exploitation, suppression and violence has increased the tenacity and stubbornness of collective
resistance by the tribal population against the state. They are collectively fighting against the
state authority. On September 18, 2001 , nearly 3000-3500 people with their traditional weapons
participated in the block (Kashipur) gherao programme, conducted meeting and presented a
memorandum to the chief minister and district collector through the Block Development Officer
where the main demands were cancellation of bauxite mining projects, pushing responsible
officers and politicians on Maikancha firing, withdrawing of police cases, and the provision of
irrigation, health and other facilities (Sarangi 2002).
Concluding Remarks
To conclude, the tribal regions of Orissa have turned into a ‘terrain of resistance’"*® due
to the increasing tension between the demands and interests of local communities on the one
hand and the rehabilitation history and antithetical policies of the centralized and bureaucratic
state apparatus on the other. Development has caused displacement, increased poverty,
damaged environment, destroyed traditional cultures, and threatened tribal ‘life world’. The
place-specific advantages of the region provide an impetus to the resistance process. But, ail
the people living the community do not participate in the resistance process (as it is seen in
Kashipur that the dalits and upper castes do not participate in resistance but supports it) as
long as their interests are not affected. Socio-cultura! identity gets politicized when the material
interests of the people are endangered and this paves the way to the formation of interest
group associations to fight against the state authority. This resistance by people in defense of
their traditional way of life has been suppressed through various coercive methods like police
firing, harassment, lathi charge, false implications, etc. However, state’s adoption to violent
means to suppress the resistance has, indeed, increased the intensity of resistance in the
tribal regions of Orissa.
399
The Politics of Tribal Resistance in Orissa
2005. The author is grateful to Asso. Prof. Vedi R Hadiz, Prof. Stephen Turner, Prof. Chua
Beng-Huat and Dr. Habibu! Khondkar for their comments and suggestions on the paper.
References
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2. Bandyopadhyay, D (1999) ‘Where Assertion is Insurrection’, Economic and Political
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3. Bandyopadhyay, D (2004) ‘Rayagada Story Retold: Destitutes of Development’ Economic
and Political Weekly, January 31
4. Baviskar, A (1995) In the Belly of the River: T ribal Conflicts over Development in the
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Jean Dreze (et.al.) The Dam and the Nation: Displacement and Resettlement in Narmada
Valley, Delhi: Oxford
6. Das, Prafulla (2006) ‘Churning in Orissa’, The Hindu, January 1 3
7. Das, V (2001 ) ‘Orissa: Mining Bauxite, Maiming People’, Economic and Political Weekly,
July 14
8. Das, V (2003) ‘Kashipur: Politics of Underdevelopment', Economic and Political Weekly,
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10. Klandermans, B and Weerd, M (2000) 'Group Identification and Political Protest’ in
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1 1 . Kujur, Joseph M (2005) ‘A T ribal Reading of the Resettlement and Rehabilitation Policy
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Delhi: Pine Forge Press.
13. Otero, Gerardo (2004) ‘Global Economy, Local Politics: indigenous Struggles, Civil
Society and Democracy’ in Canadian Journal of Politicai Science, June, Vol. 37, No. 2
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and Political Weekly, July 5
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15. Patnaik, A.K. (2001) ‘Profits over People’, Frontline, Vol. 18, Issue. 01, Jan. 06-19
1 6. Routiedge, Paul (1 993) Terrains of Resistance: Non-violent Social Movements and the
Contestation of Place in India, London: Praeger
1 7. Routiedge, Paul (1 999) ‘Survival and Resistance’ in Paul Cloke (et.al.) Introducing Human
Geographies, London: Arnold
1 8. Sahoo, S (2005) ‘T ribal Displacement and Human Rights Violations in Orissa’, Social
Action: A Quarterly Review of Social T rends, Vol. 55, No. 2, April- June
1 9. Sarangi, Deba Ranjan (2002) ‘Orissa: Striving against Odds: Case of Kashipur’, Economic
and Political Weekly, August 03
20. Sengupta, Jayanta (2001) ‘State, market and democracy in the 1990s: Liberalization
and the politics of Oriya identity’ in Jayal, Niraja Gopal and Sudha Pai. Democratic
Governance in India: Challenges of Poverty, Development, and Identity, New Delhi:
Sage Publication.
21 . Singh, Rajendra (2001 ) Social Movements, Old and New: A Post-modernist Critique,
New Delhi: Sage
22. Singh, Satyajit (1 997) ‘Introduction’ in Jean Dreze (et.al.). Op. cit
23. SInha, Surajit (1 958) T ribal Cultures of Peninsular India as a Dimension of Little T radition
in the Study of India Civilization: A Preliminary Statement’ in The Journal of American
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24. von Furer-Haimendorf, Christoph (1 982) T ribes of India: The Struggle for Survival, Berkeley:
University of California Press
25. Menon, Meena (2005) ‘The Battle for Bauxite in Orissa’, The Hindu, April, 20, http://
www.hinduonnet.eom/2005/04/20/stories/2005042009861 1 0O.htm
26. Ota, Akhil. B (2001 ) ‘Reconstruction Livelihood of the Displaced Families in Development
Projects; Causes of Failure and Room for Reconstruction’ http;//www.anthrobase.com/
Txt/O/Ota„A„02.htm
27. Mitra, Arnab, Ashish Gupta and Nitya Varadarajan (2004) ‘The Hot New States for
Business’ Business Today, November 21, Pp. 120-128
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The Politics of Tribal Resistance in Orissa
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articles/majhi.htm
End Notes
1 . Quoted in von Furer-Haimendorf, Christoph (1 982) T ribes of India: The Struggle for Survival,
Berkeley: University of California Press, Pp.313-322
2. Singh explains double contradiction that India lags behind the West on the path of
modernity and development, and on the other without being modern it has produced the
cultural conditions of the early emergence of post-modernity and post-modernist struggles
in society. Although my position is almost similar with him, but here I argue, the tribal
resistance more as a response to modernist and development project rather than in
post-modernist terms.
3. Here I refer to the tribal communities living in the state of Orissa and fighting against the
state planned Industrialization process in the region. And in this paper I use tribal as
synonymous with the adivasis and indigenous peoples.
4. For more see Philip McMichael (1 996) where he gives a brilliant explanation of Rachel
Carson’s Silent Spring (1 962) in describing environmentalism as a social movement.
As a report mentions, taking into account the growing demand for steel in international
market and its commitment towards industrialization and development, the present BIju
Janata Dal-Bharatiya Janata Party alliance government in Orissa has signed up 43
memoranda of understanding for steel plants and 3 for aluminum refineries so far. See
Das, Prafulia (2006) ‘Churning in Orissa’, The Hindu, January 13
5. Kashipur is under the jurisdiction of Rayagada district which has enormous amount of
bauxite reserves and where 62 percent of the populations are tribals. It was one of the
43 special multi-purpose tribal blocks In the country in the mid-1950s and later included
as one of the tribal development blocks meant for areas of higher tribal concentration.
For more see Suguna Pathy (2003)
6. Here the risk is losing land and forest which have been their sources of livelihood for
generations.
7. This section heavily draws from Sahoo, S (2005) Tribal Displacement and Human
Rights Violations in Orissa’, Social Action, Vol. 55, No. 2, April-June, Pp. 154-7
8. According to the 1999-2000 planning commission estimation 46 percent of Orissa’s
population is living below the poverty line as compared to the national average of 26
percent.
9. This is the plateau where Kashipur block exists
The Indian Journal of Political Science
402
10. indravati hydro project is very close to Kashipur block. Those distress oustees often
come to Kashipur at the rainy period.
11. It is used for processing of alumina. For a detailed analysis and implication see Das,
Vidhya(2001).
12. PESA seeks to provide significant protection to the tribals in the scheduled areas
against any arbitrary, discretionary and motivated action by the state relating to land
acquisition and resettlement and rehabilitation (R and R) package for the PAPs. For
more see Bandyopadhyay, D (2004)
1 3. The tribals’ life and economy are heavily dependent on land and forest. Their social
structure is based on territorial cohesion and strong corporate identity developed through
interaction and living with others. The ideological system is based on supernaturalism
and animism where they believe in the reincarnation and transmigration of souls into
various forms of life, namely, trees, birds, animals, etc which provide an ontology, an
epistemology as well as a practical code of life. For a detail analysis see Sinha, Surajit
{1958):Baviskar,A(1997)
14. The term was used by Althusser.
1 5. Dalits and upper castes do not have land, they do not do shifting cultivation and they
are not dependent on the forest. Thus their interests are less affected by the project and
hence are not interested to participate in the resistance movement. The other thing is
that they also expect that once industries were set up, they will get some job in the
factories.
; 3 . These are mostly the tribal people who remain out side the state apparatus and don’t
belong to the ruling elite. Their interests are continuously marginalized and suppressed
by the local elites, bureaucrats and state authorities as a whole. They basically belong
to Kondh (who constitute 70 percent of the tribal population of the region and one of the
largest tribal groups in India), Paraja, Jhodia and Penga tribal communities.
17. The four non-governmental organizations are Agragamee, Laxman Nayak Society,
Ankuran, and Weaker Sections Integrated Development Agency (WIDA). These four
agencies had been working among the tribals of this remote area for nearly two decades
trying to raise their awareness, spreading literacy, training them in watershed
management and better agricultural practices and the like. And this ban is considered
as a direct assault on the institutions of civil society.
18. The term is borrowed from Paul Routledge (1993) where he gives a detailed analysis of
why social movements occur where they do by taking two case studies like the Baliapai
Movement and the Chipko Movement in India. For more see Paul Routledge (1 993)
The Indian Journal of Political Science
Vol. LXVIII, No. 2, Apr.-Jun., 2007
SECULARISM IN INDIAN POLITICS : THEORY AND PRACTICE
R. Rajarajan
India, in recent years, has been witnessing an escalation of religious revivalism,
fundamentalism and religio-communal identification. The rising tide of these fissiparous
forces thmatens to engulf Indian social and political life. Against this backdrop, secularism
has come to the centre stage of social and political discourse in the country and various
critical issues pertaining to its interpretation, practice and application are being raised.
Secularism is thus one of the fundamental tenets of the Constitution, yet the declaration
of India as a secular State came only with the enactment of the 42nd Amendment to the
Constitution (1976). This paper deals with Secularism in Indian Politics: Theory and
Practice.
Introducliion
Secularism is thus one of the fundamental tenets of the Constitution, yet the declaration
of India as a secular State came only with the enactment of the 42nd Amendment to the
Constitution (1976). -The Preamble now proclaims India as a secular State. The Constitution
establishes no State religion nor does it create any category of preferred citizens. Secularism is
reinforced through material provisions of the Constitution. Indeed, it is writ large in the entire
Constitution. Fundamental rights are guaranteed to every Indian citizen regardless of religion,
caste, creed, race or sex. Besides this, the Constitution expressly guarantees individual and
collective freedom of religion, which includes the freedom to profess, practice and propagate
religion and grants religious denominations the freedom to establish and maintain institutions for
religious and charitable purposes along with the freedom to manage their own affairs in matters
of religion. No special taxes can be levied for promotion of any particular religion. Imparting of
religious instruction in State-run educational institutions is prohibited and no person can be
compelled to attend religious instruction or religious worship in educational institutions receiving
State aid. However, keeping in view the essential quintessence of Indian society, imbued in
superstition, obscurantism and myths and the all pervasive role of religion, it was generally
recognized that the State had to intervene in religion in order to remove the repugnant socio-
religious practices inimical to democracy and modernization. Hence while freedom of religion is
guaranteed, it is subject to certain limitations in the interest of public order, morality and health^
The ideology and practice of secularism in actual fact, however, is confronted with multi
faceted and multi-dimensional challenges. Atone level, critics assert that secularism as adopted
and interpreted in the Indian context is itself to blame for the crisis in which it finds itself. Majority
communalists attack secularism in order to create a Hindu vote bank by arousing anti-minority
sentiments. Interestingly, the BJPA/HP/RSS ideologues do not, in so many words, reject
secularism as such, but advocate what they choose to call 'positive secularism’. Branding
Indian secularism as ‘pseudo-secularism’, they equate It with appeasement of minorities,
particularly Muslims. Minorities criticize secularism on the grounds that it has failed to protect
The Indian Journal of Political Science
404
their interests, as well as lives and property, particularly during communal riots. At the same
time they espouse secularism not for its intrinsic value, but in order to protect their communal
interests, perpetuate their personal laws and minority status^.
At another level, secularism is challenged by the ascendance of the forces of
communalism, fundamentalism and religious revivalism, accompanied by violence. Communal
riots continue unabated. Meerut, Bombay, Bhiwandi, Ahmedabad, Surat and Hyderabad and
most recently Gujarat, are just a few cases in point. The 1980s and 1990s have witnessed
violent secessionist movements in Punjab and Kashmir and an upsurge in the use of religious
symbols and terminology in politics^.
The aggressive resurgence of majority communalism constitutes one of the major threats
to secularism in India. The Hindu fundamentalists propound the concepts of Hindutva and Hindu
State, reveal an explicit anti-minority bias, expressed through their tirade against minority
appeasement, separate personal laws. Art. 370, and existence of Aligarh Muslim University,
etc. This leads to fears of establishment of a theocratic State. On the other hand, minority
communalism, too, has become more assertive and aggressive as exemplified by the agitation
over the Shah Bano judgment and the vehement support of separate personal laws, particularly
in the wake of the Supreme Court judgment in the Sarla Mudga! case. Significantly, the Issues
emphasised by the protagonists of both majority and minority communalism are limited to
religio-communa! ones. Issues of socio-economic development are thus overshadowed by
fundamentalism, revivalism and violence"^.
Communalism and communal politics constitute one of the major challenges to secularism.
The problem is, however, further enhanced by the lack of homogeneity amongst members of
each community, which leads to the problem of intra-community conflicts. Intercaste conflict, a
persistent and recurrent phenomenon, has become more intense and pronounced in recent
years.
The resurgence of non-secular forces is accompanied by the manipulation of religion for
electoral gains by the political parties. The electoral process is thus vitiated by the predominance
of communal and chauvinistic forces. Issues like Ram Janambhoomi-Babri Masjid controversy
are given prominence for electoral gains and are yielding rich dividends. This communalisation of
the political process is accompanied by the emergence of a “new genre of political activists-the
Ram bhakts”. Who are attempting to historical wrongs. In the process religion too gets politicisedS.
increasingly, political roles are being appropriated by mullahs, sadhus/sadhvias, pundits and
jathedars, who attempt to direct the nation's future polity by suggesting amendments in what
they call the ‘anti-Hindu Constitution’, marking the contours of a Hindu Rashtra as well as giving
directions to voters as to how to vote.
Secularism in Indian Politics : Theory and Practice 405
The State, too, has fallen prey to the pressure and lobbying of communal organisations and
groups, as illustrated by the enactment of the Muslim Women’s (Protection of Rights on Divorce)
Act, 1 986, banning of ‘Satanic Verses’, and opening of the locks on the Babri Masjid. Successive
Governments, it is felt, have played the ethnic/communal card under the-cloak of secularism in
order to promote their own sectional interestsS. The Government has followed inconsistent
policies in dealing with communalists and communalism. Political convenience has been the
guiding principle in following a vacillating policy, reflecting an inability to deal with the crisis’’.
Concept Defioltfoo
The term ‘secularism’ originally non-Indian, is now part of the every day vocabulary of
Indian politics and society. The term ‘secular state’ is commonly used in present day India to
describe the relationship that exists, or which ought to exists, between the state and religion®.
Secularism defines itself in relation to religion; and always, every where, even when they
are understood to be conceptually separate, cultures and religions remain deeply intertwined.
This is even more so in cases where the very distinction between religion and culture is hard to
draw. One of the most striking developments in Independent India is the successful emergence
of an avowedly secular state encompassing the bulk of the world’s Hindus.
The ideal of secularism holds great importance for the plural society of independent India.
Secularism, accordingly, was accepted as the mainstay of the Constitution, but was not precisely
defined. An analysis of the debates of the Constituent Assembly, however, reveals a rejection of
the Western concept of secularism, that is, absolute separation of State and religion, and
acceptance of the Indian concept of ‘Sarva Dharma Samabhava’ or 'equal regard for all religionsS’.
Use of The Term In The Constitution
Till 42nd Amendment to the Constitution, neither in the preamble, nor in any article of the
Constitution, there was any direct reference to the term ‘Secularism’ to determine the character
of the Indian State. Moreover, a number of efforts to secure the inclusion of the word ‘secular’ in
the fundamental law of the land did not find favour with the framers of the Constitution"'®. Prof.
K.T. Shah, a member of the Constituent Assembly, urged in the Assembly, when the draft
provision concerning rights relating to religion was under discussion in the Assembly, made
another attempt for a new article to be inserted. “The State in India being secular shall have no
concern with any religion, creed or profession of faith; and shall observe an attitude of absolute
neutrality in all matters relating-to the religion of any class of its citizens or other persons in the
Union. This motion was also negative without any discussion in the Assembly^ ^
The word ‘secularism’ was introduced in the Constitution for the first time In the 27th year
of the Republic. It was- added only in the Preamble at the time of 42nd Amendment of the
The Indian Journal of Political Science
406
Constitution. But till today it is a controversy whether Preamble is a part of the Constitution or
not. !n Berubari case the Supreme Court held that it is not a part of the Constitution. However, it
reversed its judgment in Kesvananda Bharti’s case in which it held that Preamble is a part of the
Constitution’^.
Another effort was made during the Janata regime. In 1 978, 45th Amendment Bills proposed
the inclusion of the term in Art. 366 along with the definition apart from so many other things.
Since at that time Congress Party was in the 2/3 majority in the Rajya Sabha and Janata Party
in the Lok Sabha, this amendment could be cleared in both the Houses only as a result of a
compromise formula. The casualty of this compromise was the deletion of the term from the
proposed text of the amendment of the Constitution.
The word ‘secular’ is not written in the Constitution, but it does not imply that the founding
fathers of the Constitution had any doubt about the nature of the Indian state being secularl 3. If
we go through the debates of the Constituent Assembly, we find ready reference that ‘India
would be a secular state’. Lokanath Misra asserted in the Assembly: “Deliberately we have
chosen that our state is a secular state and we have tried to get rid of all the wrangiings of
religion." K.M. Munshi, also remarked in this context: “In the present set-up that we are now
creating under this Constitution, there is a secular State.’’
No State Religion In India
In India even though the Hindus form the vast majority of the populations, Hinduism is not
given any special place in the society. Ail religions are given equal recognition and protection.
There is no state religion in India. Moreover, under the Government of India Act, 1935, and
previous to that also, there was an Ecclesiastical Department and it was a reserved subject
under the control of the Governor-General. No such department in the Government of India now
exists, nor such a department can be created under the Constitution’'’.
The Constitution of India under Art. 25 unequivocally assures “Freedom of conscience
and free profession, practice and propagation of religion." The scope of this article is very wide
and meaningful. Apart from so many other things, it declares, “The State or the Government
cannot aid one religion or give preference to one religion as against another. Therefore, it is
obliged to be absolutely secular in character." It means that in India no particular religion will
receive state patronage’®.
When the provision was under discussion in the Constituent Assembly, there was a
school of opinion in favour of India being made a Hindu state, just as Pakistan has declared itself
to be an Islamic State. Lokanath Misra asserted in the Assembly, “if you accept religion, you
must accept Hinduism as it is practiced by an overwhelming majority of the people of India.” But
Secularism in Indiari Politics : Theory and Practice 407
the makers of the Constitution rejected this idea. The constitution provides to all persons equally
‘freedom of conscience and the right to profess, practice and propagate religion’ without any
discrimination.
individuai’s Freedom of Religion
The necessary corollary to the absence of any state religion is the freedom of religion to
all. It is generally considered and accepted as one of the essential ingredients of a secular state.
As stated already, Art. 25 declares ‘freedom of religion’. It guarantees freedom not only to the
citizens of India but, also to all persons including aliens. It deals with particularly the individual
aspect of religious liberty, which ‘consists of his freedom to choose a particular faith he likes, to
believe in and to manifest his belief in such overt acts as are prescribed by his religion. This right
is further supplemented by the freedom to practice and propagate religion^®.
Though there was general agreement in the Constituent Assembly on the freedom of
conscience and on the clause “To profess and practice” yet there was some opposition to the
inclusion of the word ‘propagate’. Particularly, the Hindu members in the Assembly totally
disagreed with the view that the propagation of religion should be considered a legitimate aspect
of religious freedom. But the overwhelming majority of members did not agree with the view.
While explaining the word ‘propagate,’ K.M. Munshi remarked in the Assembly, “Even if the
word were not there, he assured, under the Freedom of speech which the Constitution guarantees
it will be open to any religious community to persuade other people to join their faith.”
Furthermore, most of the constitutions of the world that provide freedom of religion, do not
explicitly guarantee right to propagate religion as a justifiable fundamental right. The Federal
Constitution of the Swiss Confederation simply declares under Art. 49, “Freedom of creed and
conscience is inviolable.” The Constitution of U.S.S.R. under Art. 124 provides: “In order to
ensure to citizens freedom of conscience, the church in the U.S.S.R. is separated from the
state, and the school from the church. Freedom of religious worship and freedom of anti-religious
propaganda is recognised for all citizens"'^. Further, the Constitution of the People’s Republic of
China says in Art. 36, “Citizens of the People’s Republic of China enjoy freedom of religious
belief.” And the Constitution of Japan under Art. 20 reads: “Freedom of religion is guaranteed to
all.”
The individual right of freedom of religion as amplified in Indian Constitution is of far greater
importance, particularly for the religious minorities for their smooth development, it is further in
consonance with the provisions of United Nations Declaration of Human Rights, which say:
“Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion: this right includes freedom
to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and In
public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.”
The Indian Journal of Political Science
408
While the right guaranteed in the Indian constitution under Art. 25 is a right of the individual, the
Constitution conferred this right to the community or any section thereof under Art. 26 which
provides freedom to manage religious affairs, “Subject to public order, morality and health, every
religious denomination or any section thereof shall have the right (a) to establish and maintain
institutions for religious and charitable purposes; (b) to manage its own affairs in matters of
religion: (c) to own and acquire movable and immovable property; and (d) to administer such
property in accordance with law.”
The different sects and sub-sects of the same religion can legitimately come within the
purview of this article. The word religion is not defined in the Constitution^®. And the Supreme
Court of India has from time to time defined the term very liberally in a number of cases. “All
rituals and observances, ceremonies and modes of worship are regarded as integral parts of
religion" and each religious denomination enjoys complete autonomy in the matter of deciding
what rites and ceremonies are essential according to the tenets of the religion it holds. Hence
the Scope of the freedom of religion in India is considerably wide and broad^®.
Limitations on The Right To Freedom of Religion
It is a matter of controversy whether the right to freedom of religion as provided under Arts.
25 and 26 is absolute or subject to certain limitations. So far as the text of these articles is
concerned both the provisions are subject to 'public order, morality and health: and in Art. 25
there are two more exceptions. First, this freedom is subject to the other provisions of Part 111 of
the Constitution and secondly, under clause 2(3): “Nothing in this Article shall affect the operation
of any existing law or prevent the State from making any law (a) regulating or restricting any
economic, financial, political or other secular activity which may be associated with religious
practice: (b) providing for social welfare and reform or the throwing open of Hindu religious
institutions of a public character to all classes and sections of Hindus.”
This means freedom of religion is not absolute and unlimited. For example, certain actions
which are sanctioned by some religions are prohibited by law framed under these limitations.
Human sacrifice is permissible by certain religious but it is a crime under the law. Judiciary in
India has also, on various occasions, upheld the view that freedom of religion is not an absolute
one. In a case yasud Alam v. Commissioner of Police, it was decided that banning of electrical
loudspeakers calling for prayer may be valid. “No doubt every religion has a right to have
propaganda. But when such propaganda is made through loudspeakers in a crowded and noisy
locality to the detriment of public moral, health or order, it is prohibited by Article 25. A loudspeaker
may take one to hell instead of Heaven by the very volume of its sound^°
Similarly Chapter XV, Sections 295 to 298 of the Indian Penal Code deal with the offences
relating to religions, e.g. injuring ordefiling place of worship with intent to insult the religion of any
Secyfarism in Indian Politics : Theory and Practice 409
class, disturbing religious assembly, trespassing on burial places, etc. Even though these
actions might be sanctioned by the offender’s own religion, these are offences under the law. As
stated already, ‘the right to freedom of religion’ is also subject to the other provisions of Part III of
the Constitution relating to Fundamental Right^\ The meaning of the clause can be explained
with examples, “The practice of untouchability (forbidden in Article 17) could not be protected
under Article 25. Land can be compulsorily acquired by the state with compensation under
Article 31 , despite the fact that it is a part of a religious endowment.”
It appears from the language of the Indian Constitution and other enactments that this
right is subject to state control and restrictions extensively. But if we study the debates of the
Constituent Assembly it appears that there was much resentment and disagreement among
the members of the Assembly regarding the interference of the state in matters of religion,
Lokanath Misra remarked, in this context'“lf religion is beyond the ken of our State. Let us
clearly say so and delete all reference to rights relating to religion.” He further says: “This unjust
generosity of tabooing religion and yet making propagation of religion a fundamental right it
somewhat uncanny and dangerous^^.
A number of authorities on the subject have also endorsed the view that 'this limitation of
the freedom of conscience of the individual is due to either bad drafting of the article or indiscreet
borrowing rather than any conscious desire on the part of the fathers of the Constitution. From
the debates of the Constituent Assembly it becomes very clear that members were much
concerned with guaranteeing to the individual absolute freedom as regards the choice of his
religion. If we observe the practices of the Government of India vis-a-vis the freedom of religion
since the commencement of the Constitution, we find ample instances where the Government
felt hesitant in interfering with the matters of religion of the people^^. The provisions of ‘uniform
civil code for the citizens’ and ‘ban on cow slaughter’ are still lying as promises in the chapter of
Directive Principles of State Policy of the Constitution. This right certainly appears absolute, if
not by law, at least by practices.
Religious Instruction
The Indian Constitution guarantees not only religious freedom both individual and collective
response without any discrimination, it also lawfully permits to propagate religion: and one form
of propagating religion is by means of religious instructions in educational institutions24. This is
provided under Article 28 with a few "(1) No religious instruction shall be provided in any educational
institution wholly maintained out of State funds. (2) Nothing in Clause (1) shall apply to an
educational institution which is administered by the State but has been established under any
endowment or trust which requires that religious instruction shall be imparted in such a situation.
(3) No person attending any educational institution recognized by the State or receiving aid out
410
The Indiari Journal of Political Science
of state funds shall be required to take part in any religious instruction that may be imparted, in
such institution or to attend any religious worship that may be conducted in such institution or
in any premises attached thereto unless such person or, if such person is a minor, his guardian
has given his consent thereto^^“
The clause regarding the Right to Freedom of Religion had to face much criticism in 'and
outside the Constituent Assembly26. What is banned under Clause 1 of this article is neutralized
under Clause 3 to a large extent. Prof. K.T. Shah moved the following amendment to this clause
in the Constituent Assembly: “No religious instruction shall be provided by the State in any
educational institution wholly or partly maintained out of State funds .
"The direct religious education is permissible under the Constitution in three out of four
types of educational institutions in India. The ban on such instruction is only in the case of
institutions which are wholly maintained out of state funds^®. But, If one keenly observes the
debates of the Constituent Assembly one finds that this type of attitude which was adopted by
the framing fathers of the Constitution was neither the result of option for the principle of neutrality
in regard to religion nor due to the high values of the principles of secularism. They were rather
compelled to follow this line on the ground that the Indian society is composed of multiplicity of
religions®®. Dr. Ambedkar admitted it in the Assembly: "The second difficulty is much more real
than the first, namely, the multiplicity of religions, and to provide religious instaiction in all the
denominations^®.
Conclusion
Secularism needs to acquire a promotion of secular principles that are of paramount
importance in the Indian body politic. Secularism requires more than adherence to a policy of
religious toleration, it is comparable to a policy of social transformation and change.
The universalization of secular principles should enable secularism not to degenerate into
an institutionalized policy of appeasement or domination of religious groups based on the needs
of the day. A consensual framework that is based on mutual respect and common principles,
not separate beliefs protected by law, needs to develop. The evolution of and adherence to such
predetermined but definable principles of state and individual value based behaviour is essential
if secularism is to become a universalist social and community ideology and not remain a purely
political instrument of societal regulation within the contemporary . Indian scenario. The
government’s role is that of facilitating understanding and tolerance for different religious beliefs,
both majority, and minority, without promoting or obliquely supporting any one belief. Achieving
this would mean divorcing public expressions of religious conduct from the Indian national identity,
which is a difficult task in the maelstrom of Indian democracy. However, gradual change in this
direction can occur since globalization and increased educational opportunities for men and
Secularism in Indian Politics : Theory and Practice 4t1
women have converted tradition into a benchmark for progress, not a bastion or device for
retarding socio-religious changes within Indian society.
References :
1 . Sec Manoranjan Mohanty, “Secularism: Hegemonic and Democratic”, Economic and
political weekly, vol. XXIV. No. 22, June 3. 1989, p.1219.
2. Ibid., p. 1220.
3. Ibid., p. 1221.
4. The Indian Express. July 9, 1991.
5. Asghar Ali Engineer, “Communalism and Communal violence, 1 996” Economic and political
weekly, vol.xxxl 1 , No. 7, Feb-1 5, 1 997, p. 326.
6. Sarla mudgal V. union of India, AIR 1 995 SC 1 531 .
7. Geetha puri, “The congress and the BJP", Indian Express, November 30, 1 992.
8. Dipankar Gupta, “Communalism and fundamentalism: some Notes on the nature of
Ethnic politics in India”, Economic and political weekly, vol. XXXVl, No. 11 & 12, March,
1991, p. 573.
9. Donald Engine Smith, India as a secular state, (Princeton unit press, Princeton, New
jersey, 1963).
10. Constituent Assembly Debates, VII, p. 400.
1 1 . Dr.K. K. Wadhwa, Minority Safeguards in India (Thomas) 1 975, p.2.
12. S.C.R. (1960). P.250.
13. AIR(1973),SC.,.p.1461.
14. Constituent Assembly Debates, VII, p.642.
15. Ibid.,p.837.
16. !bid.,pp.881-82.
17. Constituent Assembly Debates, VII, p.822.
18. Constituent Assembly Debates, Vll, p.822-23.
19. ibid.,p-837.
The Indian Joyrna! of Potitica! Science
20. Art. 18.
21 . Qureshi V. State of Bihar, AIR 1 958 S.C., p. 731 .
22. AIR1956,Ea!.,p.9.
23. D.E. Smith, op. Cii.p. 104.
24. Constituent Assembly Debate, VII, p.823.
25. Ibid.,
26. V.P. Luthra, op. Cit., p. 1 1 3.
27. Art, 44.
28. Art, 48.
29. Constituent Assembly Debates, VII, p.879.
30. Constituent Assembly Debates, VII, p.868.
The Indian Journal of Political Science
Vol. LXVIll, No- 2, Apr. -June, 2007
CONTENDING FRAiVlEWORKS FOR FOREIGN POLICY ANALYSIS :
AN APPRAISAL
Slvananda Patnaik
WilHam Nunes
Foreign policy analysis, which is an important sub-field of political science, remains
highly underdeveloped in India. This is because the scholars are not adequately
exposed to the theoretical literature in the field. The study of foreign policy is dominated
by the area study approach. This approach though informative does not contribute to
generating rigorous analytical and explanatory knowledge. This paper attempts to
review the existing theoretical literature in the field with a view to exposing student of
international relations in India to the contending analytical perspectives for analysing
and explaining foreign policy.
Foreign policy analysis, which is an important sub-field of political science, remains
highly underdeveloped in India. It is not merely the dearth of literature but also its quality that
is rather poor in nature. Exceptions notwithstanding, the bulk of the literature is characterised
by descriptive, chronological, 'relational' studies, such as Indo-US relations, Indo-Soviet
relations, Indo-Pak relations, etc. The characteristic mode of such studies is one in which
newspaper reportage is chronologically organised on the basis of loosely defined notions of
national interest with little or no effort towards either identifying the dominant patterns and
trends in the relationships under study or formulating rigorous explanations that would account
for them. In the final’analysis, the literature produced in India has remained short of making a
significant or perceptible contribution to the development of theoretical knowledge in the sub-
field.
There seem to be two major inter-related reasons for this state of affairs: one, the
domination of the 'area study' approach in the analysis of international relations and, two, the
procurement policy and financial capacities of most libraries in the country. Lack of funds, and
perhaps no less so the lack of exposure, prevent these university libraries in India from procuring
journals specifically devpted to theoretical writings. Overwhelmingly published in developed
countries, these journals are exorbitantly priced and cannot be afforded within the meagre
resources available to university libraries. The latter are therefore left with the only alternative
of subscribing mainly to journals published in India where the research agenda is shaped by
area study approaches that play the part of peer culture in determining the lines of research.
This is a vicious cycle which in part at least may be broken through vigorous debate between
contending approaches in the field. This paper makes an attempt to critically appraise the
theoretical literature in the sub-field of foreign policy analysis with a view to exposing Indian J|
scholars to the theoretical literature in the field and thereby help improve the quality of research. i
The Indian Journal of Political Science
414
One of the constant preoccupations of scholars and analysts is to explain 'events'
occurring within states and between states. Put simply they seek to explain why states make
particular foreign policy choices or why they behave towards each other the way they do.
These exercises of explication result in a variety of approaches and models. However, the
domination of the state centric approach, where the state is treated as a billiard ball, has led
scholars to cast foreign policy decision .making into a cause-effect relationship. As states
seek to enhance and protect their national interests occurrences in the external milieu or
behaviour of other states is seen to have a direct relation to the foreign policy choices. However,
scholars like Sprout and Sprout, Rosenau, Korany, Holsti, Allison and the like sought to
break away from this narrow understanding of foreign policy and international relations and
attempted to study it in a more holistic manner. Here factors other than those arising from the
external sources are seen to have an impact or influence on the decision makers. Although
they do not provide a theory for the study of foreign policy, they have put forth frameworks or
models that seek to explain the foreign policy of states as well as make predictions about
them.
This paper is a modest effort to schematically deal with some of the approaches in the
study of foreign policy. However, our purpose is not to deal with the frameworks or approaches
Individually but to try to examine them generically. This will, we hope, generate dialogue
between the different traditions and contribute towards the advancement of the discipline.
Contending frameworks for Foreign Policy Analysis :
Over the past three decades there has been a proliferation of contending frameworks for
foreign policy analysis. On the basis of their explanatory schemas these frameworks may be
categorised into four generic groups. The latter although useful, obviously entails a degree of
unavoidable simplification of the conceptual intricacies of the given frameworks. The four
analytical perspectives are: a) idiosyncratic; b) governmental; c) societal; and d) systemic.
The Idiosyncratic Perspective
This perspective has a vast body of literature depicting sophistication in conceptuaiisation
and rich innovation in technique. It contends that foreign policy is the product of the perceptions
and responses of the leadership, that is the foreign policy decision makers.’' The foreign
policy decisions are based on the perceptions of the decision makers of the international
environment as well as in the goals of the states. The decision makers' perceptions are
formed by their worldview, ideology, personality and the like. Therefore, this perspective explains
foreign policy by analysing the mindsets of the main actors in the foreign policy making
Contending Frameworks for Foreign Policy Analysis
edifice.
415
The idiosyncratic perspective has the merit of systemicaily drawing attention of the
students of foreign policy to the important role played by the decision makers in the formulation
and conduct of foreign policyi This has been ignored by the realist approach because of its
assumption that states in the international context are unitary rational actors. Notwithstanding
this merit, the idiosyncratic perspective because of its exclusive emphasis on psychological
aspect suffer from the drawback of making foreign policy appear to be an erratic and irrational
activity.^ It suggests this picture of foreign policy because it neglects the domestic, regional
and international contexts, which not only shape the foreign policy agenda and options but
also play down considerably the autonomy of individual eccentricities in foreign policy making
and implementations. In other words, the internal and external determinants have a major
bearing on encouraging or discouraging idiosyncrasies of decision makers in foreign policy
making and conduct. Furthermore, this perspective does not provide analytical categories and
schemes for conceptualising foreign policy behaviour or interactions. Thus, the idiosyncratic
perspective as an independent approach has very limited explanatory and descriptive capacity.
It needs to be situated within the domestic and external contexts of foreign policy if it is to
provide meaningful explanations.
The Governmental Perspective :
This perspective has a limited body of literature which is of course steadily Increasing,
reflecting its growing popularity among scholars. Like the idiosyncratic perspective, the
governmental approach or bureaucratic politics model as it is also referred to, is an effort to
correct the shortcomings of the realist approach. It refutes the claim of realism that state is a
unitary actor in the international context and also that foreign policy is an act of 'rational'
choice, instead. It contends that foreign policy is a 'political resultant of bargaining process'
involving different government departments, military services, and subdivisions thereon J The
political resultant which finds the greatest consensus among, or support of, the main participants
becomes the foreign policy decision, in other words, the bureaucratic politics model explains
foreign policy by analysir^ the foreign policy making organisational structure and processes
therein. i
This perspective does not emphasise the psychological dimension of the decision makers ;
but stresses that they are.giiided by their own career and departmental interests while ;
participating in the making of foreign policy. The decision makers try to influence foreign ;
policy making in such manner and direction which would maximise their own and their
departments' Involvement and Influence. |
I
The Indian Journal of Political Science
416
Yet it suffers from a number of shortcomings. Firstly, it ignores the influence of domestic
and externa! sources of foreign policy. Secondly, it overemphasises the significance of inter
and intra-bureaucratic interests and interactions, and underplays the role of the leadership.
Some recent studies on the relationship between leadership and bureaucracy have shown
that the ultimate say is with the former.
Finally, it does not offer much help for the conceptualisation of foreign policy behaviour.
The Societal Perspective:
This is a relatively recent approach though its philosophical antecedents are old. It
explains foreign policy by considering the socio-economic, cultural and political structures
and processes within the state. It focuses on factors such as size, location, resource
endowments, culture, socio-economic structures, class and elite structures, socio-economic
development, economic and military capability, political institutions and processes and the
like."* Depending upon the ideological underpinnings of the framework, theorists of this persuasion
have alternately argued that a state's foreign policy behaviour is meant to strengthen and
stabilise the ruling elite or the ruling classes in addition to protecting the territorial integrity of
the country.
Some students of foreign policy have argued that this perspective provides a better
understanding of the foreign policies of third world countries as compared to the realist approach
which explain foreign policy in terms of protection of national security only. The exponents of
this perspective have argued that foreign policies of developing countries have three major
objectives: defence of nation's independence from perceived threat, mobilisation of externa!
resources for the country's socio-economic development and achievement of domestic socio-
political stability and leadership legitimacy.® The societal perspective is, no doubt, an
improvement on realism which neglects the domestic structures in the explanation of foreign
policy. However, the societal approach suffers from the reverse shortcoming of neglecting the
role of the external factors.
The Systemic Perspective :
This is the oldest and most enduring approach to foreign policy analysis. It has undergone
several modifications and refinements over the years. Earlier it fell under.the rubric of realism
but with the inclusion of terms and categories from system theory, it came to be known as the
systemic perspective. According tot his perspective, foreign policy is a function of the conditions
that prevail outside the country. The international system lacking a central political authority
is anarchic and lends itself to a self help system where all states have to protect their security
Conteriding Frameworks for Foreign Policy Analysis 417
and independence from encroachment by others. In addition to building military capability,
states resort to foreign policy to mitigate the perceived threats and expand the sphere of their
independence.
For this purpose, states adopt various foreign policy strategies such as alignment, non-alignment,
neutralism or isolationism, which guide their external interactions. The foreign policy strategy
and ensuing interactions are mainly shaped . by the distribution of power in the international
system, or what is referred to as the international system structure.®
There is no denying the fact that external power realities in the anarchic international
system are important determinants of foreign policy.
However, explaining foreign policy exclusively in terms of international power structure
would be myopic. More specifically, the systemic perspective is wanting in two respects.
Firstly, it excludes international institutions, laws, regimes and normative processes such as
ideological and political movements. Secondly, it underplays the domestic sources of foreign
policy. These omissions have severely limited the explanatory potential of the systemic
perspective.
This brief review of the contending approaches clearly indicates that none of the
approaches is individually adequate for providing comprehensive explanations of foreign policy,
and there is, therefore the need to integrate them.
Towards an Integrative Framework :
Some scholars recognising the partial explanatory character of these approaches have-
attempted to formulate overarching frameworks which integrate the insights of the various
perspectives discussed earlier. While it cannot be denied that there are differences between
these overarching frameworks, it can also be easily recognised that there are not many
substantial conceptual differences between them, at least in their general construction.’^ Based
upon the realist assumption that the international system is anarchic and that states are the
principal actors in international relations, these frameworks divide foreign policy activity into
five inter-related analytical categories: a) motivation; b) determinants; c) strategy and objectives;
d) decision making structure; and e) foreign policy behaviour, constituting interactions and
roles. This five fold categorisation is self-explanatory, requiring no detailed clarification and it
will suffice to brietly state the denotation and connotation of these terms,
'Motivation' describes the desires of states in the international system. These desires
are shaped by the international system structure, the capability of the states, and their history,
The tudiari Journal of Political Science
418
traditions and ideology. 'Determinants' indicate the factors and forces, both internal and external,
which affect foreign policy. 'Foreign policy objectives' refer to the specific goals which a state
pursues in the international system. The term 'strategy' means the line of action or the general
orientation a state adopts to actuaiise its foreign policy goals. Foreign policy strategy shapes
the external behaviours and roles. Both objectives and strategy are shaped by the interactions
between the motivations that are relatively abstract and the determinants which are more
substantive and concrete factors and forces.
Foreign policy decision making structure includes the formal organisation for foreign
policy making and implementation as well as the processes that go within it, including
influences from outside which have a bearing on the processes. It includes interactions between
the leadership and official as well as non official foreign policy elites. The foreign policy motivations
and determinants are mediated by the decision making system to formulate the foreign policy
objectives and strategy. Likewise, they translate the interactions between foreign policy
objectives and strategy and the changing internal and external settings into specific foreign
policy actions and roles. Although the structure of the decision making system and processes
therein significantly shape the nature of the mediation of the decision making system between
foreign policy motivations and determinants as well as strategy and the changing domestic
and international environment, it mediatory role is considerably constrained by the strategy
once it has been clearly spelt out.
The determinants or factors that influence the foreign policy making process do not
operate in the simple fashion as it might appear from the categorisations sketched out in this
paper. The aim of this exercise is to single out and highlight distinct factors in the ensemble
of determinants whose complex interplay marks out the field of foreign policy through a heuristic
review of different perspectives. The paper attempts to underline the importance of each factor
which may act on decision makers but whose salience may vary from state to state. The
objective is not to compartmentalise the determinants as exclusive self-contained entities. At
times all determinants may act in concert while at other times only one or more may be
instrumental.
It is none the less important to note that the’ categorisation enables one to identify or
locate the patterns in the foreign policy behaviour and thereby understand why states act as
they do.
it is by grasping the variations in these patterns that we can come closer to knowing
how to respond and what to predict in the difficult terrain of foreign relations. The paper dtarefor®
argues the necessity of keeping In focus the complex web of determinants involved in the
Contending Frameworks for Foreign Policy Analysis 41 9
making of foreign policies in order to arrive at an adequate - i.e., more integrated and dynamic
- understanding of the field of foreign policy studies.
Notes and References :
1 . The literature is vast. However for a comprehensive survey, see Ole. R. Holsti, 'Foreign
Policy Decision Makers Viewed Psychologically: Cognitive Process Approaches' in J.
Rosenau, (ed.), In Search of Global Patterns, (New York, 1976); see also, Robert Jervis,
Perception and Misperception in International Politics, (Princeton, 1976); see also D.
A. Sylvan and S. Chan, (eds.), Foreign Policy Decision Making Perception, Cognition
and Artificial Intelligence, (New York, 1984).
2. Ali E. Hillal Dessouki and Bhagat Korany, 'A Literature Survey and a Framework for
Analysis", in Bhagat Korany and Ali E. Hillal Dessouki, (eds.). The Foreign Policy of
Arab States, (Boulder, 1984), pp. 5 - 7.
3. Some good studies in this tradition are: Anthony Downs, Inside Bureaucracy, (Boston,
1967); Graham Allison, Essence of Decision: Explaining the Cuban Missile Crisis,
(Boston, 1971); I.M. Destler, Presidents, Bureaucrats and Foreign Policy, (Princeton,
1972); and Morton H. Halperin, Bureaucratic Politics and Foreign Policy,
(Washington,! 974).
4. For a comprehensive survey of this literature see, Michael P. Sullivan, International
Relations: Theories and Evidence, (New Jersey, 1976), Chapter 4, "National Attribute
Theory: Domestic Sources of Foreign Policy", pp. 102 - 142.
5. See Franklin Weinstein, "The Use of Foreign Policy in Indonesia; An Approach to the
Analysis of the Foreign Policy of Less Developed Countries", World Politics, Vol.24,
No.2, 1972, pp. 356 - 382; Bhagat Korany, Social Change, Charisma and International
Behaviour, (Leiden, 1976); also see his articles such as, "Foreign Policy Models and
Their Empirical Relevance to the Third World Actors: A Critique and An Alternative",
international Social Science Journal, Vol. 26., No. 1., 1974, pp. 70 -94; and "Take-off of
Third World Studies? The Case of Foreign Policy", World Politics, Vol. 35, No.3., 1983,
pp. 465 - 487. It must be mentioned that there are major differences In the conceptual
frameworks and theoretical reasoning of the two analysts.
6. For a representative sample of this perspective see, Hans J. Morgenthau, Politics Among
Nations, (New Delhi, 1976); Mortan A. Kaplan, System and Process in International
Politics, (New York, 1 957); Richard Rosecrance, Action and Reaction in World Politics,
(Boston, 1 963); and Kenneth Waltz, Man, the State and War, (New York, 1 954), also
The Indian Journal of Polltlcai Science ^20
Waltz's recent book, Theory of International Politics. (Reading, 1 979). There are major
conceptual differences among these scholars but it is not possible to discuss them
here.
7. For example see K. J. Holsti, International Politics : A Framework for Analysis, (New
Delhi, 1981): and also Dessouki and Korany, op.cit.
The Indian Journal of Political Science
Vol. LXVIll, No. 2, April-June, 2007
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GOVERNMENT AND OPPOSITION: PARLIAMENTARY DEMOCRACY IN INDIA, ShIbanI
Kinkar Chaube, K.P. Bagachi & Company, Kolkata, 2006, pp. 216, Rs. 350/-
This book is based on research work under a fellowship awarded by Hon’ble Speaker of
the Lok Sabha in July 2000 on intra-governmental relations in India. This work critically analyzes
the intra-governmental relations in India and highlighs the role of opposition in the working of
parliamentary democracy. In the first chapter the author clearly mentioned that Government
will be understood as comprising the legislature and executive, and intra-governmental relations
will mean the relations between the Union Legislature and the Union Executive including
bureaucracy. The author keeps the judiciary outside the domain of government and has regarded
judiciary as a cardinal principle of democratic government. With the help of various Constituent
Assembly debates, provisions of government acts, memorandum forwarded by the then
dignitaries, committees, arguments etc. the author has critically analyzed the vital issues
before the Constituent Assembly, such as the opposition, shaping of parliamentary government,
president, fundamental rights etc. The second chapter deals with the evaluation and development
of British Parliament as an institution of pai liamentary government alongwith the essential
aspect of democracy such as ministerial responsibility, individual responsibility of ministers,
collective responsibility, responsibility and representation, confidence motion, dissolution,
diminution of ministerial responsibility, conflict and cooperation, dilution of opposition. The
author has comprehensively discussed and analyzed the above started heading in the chapter
and given a good number of historical evidences.
In the third chapter, namely Parliamentary Democracy in India, the author has clearly
pointed out that parliamentary democracy in India is a world apart from the ancient tribal
systems of consensual gerontocracy. The legislature in India which was created by British
was totally different from the traditional sabhas and panchas. The Indian leaders accepted
parliamentary democracy very similar to British model because the freedom movement in
India evolved and developed under the British Raj and government structure. Though India
chose the British Model of parliamentary democracy, there are some critical differences
between the two systems. India has written constitution, executive power vested in president,
etc. The author has put some other issues in this chapter like question of ‘Discretion’ regarding
President of India, a discussion on dissolution of Lok Sabha in 1999 when A.B. Vajpayee
was the P.M. and AIDMK withdrew its support from the Government before the President
K.R. Narayanan. Other topics are the limits to Cabinet advice. Powers of President where
the author has focused on those powers where president acts on his own and not on the
advice of Council of Ministers. These
Book‘Review
422
parliamentary lines; and a brief account on Veto Powers of President has also been given.
The other aspects of this chapter are the pre-eminence of the Prime Minister, Legal
Responsibility of President, Legislative Institutions in Colonial India, the Indian Parliament
and the Government Fund. The fourth chapter deals with various issues highlighting
relationships between President, Legislature, Executive and people (the master of
governments). The author tries to bring out those factors which influence and stir the relations
of above stated democratic institutions. The relationship between President and Prime Minister
largely depends upon the personality of President and the trust of Prime Minister he enjoys.
The author held this view that responsibility is the core of the relationship between the
legislature and the executive in a parliamentary democracy. He briefly differentiates between
accountability and responsibility: where accountability is a bureaucratic concept implying
liability of the subordinate, responsibility is a political concept implying liability of a person to
be removed from office in case of the loss of confidence of the patron(s). In India, where
multi-party system didn’t prevail until 1 977, the opposition was never able to present itself as
a viable national alternative to the Congress party. In the new context, the notion of a
responsible opposition did involve a responsibility not to the ruling party but to the political
system. The author has given example of first no-confidence motion in Indian politics. It was
moved by Bra] Raj Singh on 31 August 1 961 against Pandit Jawahar Lai Nehru’s government.
The fifth and sixth chapters deal with no-confidence motion and the concepts of confidence
and no-confidence. He starts with a brief account of composition of opposition in India. He
has discussed how the Congress hegemony was broken 1967 onwards, and also discusses
various instances of no-confidence motion in Indian parliamentary democracy. The author
has mentioned and maintained this notion that parliamentary debate is a barometer of the
political morale of a country. In the seventh chapter - Between Opposition and Cooperation
- the author has convincingly stated that a successful parliamentary democracy can function
only through a judicious combination of opposition and cooperation - the means by which
this combination is achieved f^ll under the name of parliamentary control.
in a party-based democracy the effectiveness of no-confidence motion debates and
the confidence debates is curtailed by discipline and whips of the respective parties, but is
not disappeared. Positively in a coalition situation the debate is becoming very effective
because of the relative autonomy of the constituent parties. In order to understand the concept
of opposition, accountability, no-confidence motion in Indian politics the author has focused
on other related dimensions and aspects of government and legislation such as, powers and
responsibilities within the government, the meaning of accountability, the status and role of
the bureaucrats in India, parliamentary control, legislation, policy decisions, financial control,
monitoring the executive works, parliamentary committees in India, etc.
In the last chapter, the author has concluded his work mentioning that if politics Is
about power, power is about consent or conflict. Between consent and conflict lies the concept
Book-Review 423
the importance of opposition in parliamentary system that opposition in parliamentary politics
is a matter of argument not its stalling. India adopted parliamentary democracy with necessary
variations which makes it peculiar. It comes under attack from various corners of intelligentia,
but while looking at it positively. The greatest arrangement in favourof parliamentary democracy
in India is that notwithstanding a number of stresses and strains, it has worked for more than
half a century.
Sushma Yadav
BOOK REVIEW
CONTROL OVER PUBLIC FINANCE IN INDIA, S.P. GANGULY, CONCEPT PUBLISHING
COIVIPANY, NEW DELHI, 2006, PP. 158, RS.300/-
Finance in itself is a much complex subject, more so for common man. Its
understanding, however, is essential for one and all, be it an administrator or a housewife,
courtesy its significance expanding from one’s day-to-day life to national interest and even
global causes. Kautilya had very rightly attached maximum important to finance in state
affairs. Therefore, it is always more than welcome when a book on the subject is brought
about in Indian context through first hand sources like the author S.P. Ganguly, ex-chairman.
Pay Commission, Mizoram, for it is able to impart better understanding of the nuances of the
subject. Even a layman needs to be fully aware of the state’s financial affairs because such
knowledge is not only his right but also his duty so that he on his behalf is not negligent,
indifferent, irresponsible and apathetic about the financial matters of the state. The book is
meant not only for experts and academicians, but for all those who are interested in ensuring
judicious utilization of public financial resources. It lays emphasis on the kind of control that
the state exercises over all the agencies whom it has authorized to spend funds from public
exchequer - people’s hard earned tjioney required to be invested for people’s welfare and
nation’s progress.
The book has been divided into five chapters. The first chapter is introductory in nature
and traces the historical background of financial administration in India. It tells how treasuries
and sub-treasures functioned as precursor to the present day banking system in India and
also exhibits the complexity and enormity of this fiscal networking. It further gives a brief
introduction of the types of control over public finance in India - the description despite being
brief possesses clarity.
The second chapter briefly discusses the political, government and administrative
Book-Review 424
structure in the country in the constitutional perspective, both at the centre and state levels, in
order to give a better understanding of the administration of public finance in the country,
thereby explaining the network of power delegation expanding from political executive to the
permanent executive, especially in context of financial administration. Besides, the organization
and functions of Audit Department have also been described, and the office of Comptroller and
Auditor Genera! in India has been discussed in some detail thereby throwing light on its role in
effective financial management. Through this chapter the author emphasizes that control over
public finance is a "constitutional directive and democratic compulsion".
The third chapter brings about the Constitutional provisions related to Consolidated
Fund, Public Account Committee, Contingency Fund, government borrowings and guarantees.
It goes on to discuss how government transactions are classified and also the utility of such
classification.
The fourth chapter deals with the main concept of the book, i.e. control over public
finance. It has been divided into five parts discussing the different stages through which control
is exercised over public finance in India beginning from preparation of budget, followed by
parliamentary approval of the budget, implementation of the budget, auditing of the accounts
and parliamentary scrutiny of public finance through various committees. Each stage has
been discussed in much detail elaborating the role of all the agencies concerned. In that
course, meaning of various technical terms has also been explained thus enabling a better
understanding of the intricacies of public finance on part of readers.
The last chapter provides concluding remarks on the elaborate system of control of
public finance that exists in the country. It not only analyzes the efficacy of this system, but
also lays emphasis on the constructive role of the society in this direction, it further points out
how human resource development can help minimize the failure of a system in any context,
now be it public finance. The author draws attention towards various lapses and hindrances in
the way of adequate management of public finance, and emphasizes over and over again on
collective and committed efforts on the part of society as a whole to pin these problems down.
The author has wonderfully and successfully utilized his wide experience, deep insight
and extensive study of the subject so as to enlighten the readers on this otherwise complicated
subject. The entire theme has been exposed in a very lucid language. It is a slim yet
comprehensive volume on the subject.
Adit! Tyagi
Book-Review
425
BOOK REVIEW
REGIONALISM AND ETHNICITY IN INDIAN POLITICS - DR. VISHWAN ATH MISHRA,
ViSHWA VIDHYALAYA PRAKSHAN, SAGAR, MADHYA PRADESH, (2006) PRICE 300/
RS. PP 260
‘Regionalism and Ethnicity in Indian politics’ by Dr. Vishwanath Mishra is an excellent
and meaningful in sight into origin, spread and scope of regionalism and ethnicity in Indian
politics. The author has taken a paradigm shift in routine approach to the subject: He stressed
on political economy and globalization apart from historical and traditional elements in ad-
dressing the phenomenon of regionalism and ethnicity. He took Gorkhaiand, Bodoland and
Jharkhand as specific examples upon which he built up his theory. He also elaborates on
types of regionalism.
In case of Gorkhaiand he addressed ethnicity and in case of Bodoland he stressed
that subsequent division of state Is not a solution of regionalism but in case of Jharkhand he
elaborated both i.e. regionalism and ethnicity.
In this book author’s major comments go for mechanism of reorganization of states
based on these two phenomenons. The author says demand for separate state is the most
important and vocal demand based on regionalism in Indian politics though he conceals
river water disputes and lingual debates also as key factors, it is observed how lingual de-
bates ultimately turns into demand for separate state. In his own way the author talks how
marginal people at the both ends of division of labor and specializations ( high and low,
which exists simultaneously) in absence of proper solution react through political awareness
to harm state and society: he also highlights positive steps like Jamindari Unmulan, stopping
of privy purse as contribution to assimilate to these marginal people of the centre and elabo-
rates opportunities and flexible measures like development of Para military forces, dissolu-
tion to assemblies etc. which challenges government power to rule. The author says the
country and society both exist as such they are not because of political power but because of
elements of cultural unity of traditional society, self discipline and decision making.
The author elaborates on how British opportunitisrn and failure of Indian National
Congress resulted in demands for separate state. He quotes Jawaharlal Nehru’s statement
against lingualism, “First thing must come first and the First thing is security and stability of
India.”
The book under review has been divided into five chapters. First chapter discusses
the conceptual and historical analysis of regionalism in Indian politics. The second chapter
provides an analytical study on ethnicity based regionalism in Gorkhaiand and Bodoland
movement but Jharkhand is discussed in the next chapter. The fourth chapter is a ethnic
426
Book-Review
survey on Indian society and politics. The final chapter gives concluding observations about
reorganization of states after the formation of Jharkhand by the author. The appendices
provide relevant study material.
Dr. Vishwanath Mishra’s present work is full of relevant information, analysis of his-
torical events and academic observant approach.
Ram Singh Arha
BOOK REVIEW
Violence and Religion Cross Cultural Opinions and Consequences- R.E.S. Tanner,
Concept Publishing Company, New Delhi, 2007, pp.370, Price Rs. 750/-
The book under review highlights various factors related to religious violence, its effects
and prevention. Religious violence has been existent in different societies since centuries.
The author underlines the difficulty of understanding religion and religious violence. The ideas
and practices of Great Traditions- Lord Buddha, Jesus Christ, Prophet Mohammad, the sa-
cred books of Judaism and Hinduism- dominate religious thinking, around these ideas and
practices have grown up theological and philosophical thoughts and it is believed that follow-
ers of these faiths should model their lives according to these ideas recorded the in writing
which in turn frequently become a source of stress and violence. The author defines violence
as something which covers both worlds and action causing both physical and psychological
damage to people, property, animals and environment. The human background, theoretical
issues and circumstantial factors in religious violence have been discussed. The author high-
lights three major sources of violent behavior which can influence the behavior of individuals-
firstly, violence modeled and reinforced by family members, secondly, sub-culture and lastly,
symbolic model for or against violence which are provided by mass-media. The book dis-
cusses all the inter-related issues of religious violence which merit closer attention- fear and
anxiety within a particular religion, violence and fear between religions, secular violence and
fear against religions, the destructiveness of religious violence and the religious violence and
environment.
The author, then, focuses on prevention or mitigation of religious violence - the pre-
vention of human lives and of non-human lives, property and the environment. The major
religions have been actively against abortion. Infanticide is an ever-present danger for un-
wanted children- usually girl- and religion may be important in preserving their lives. Reli-
gious beliefs influence social behavior. The author examines different societies in context of
religious violence. West based Christianity has been actively violent in the Balkans and
reactively in Sudan and Nigeria. Buddhism has become nationalistically violent in Sri Lanka,
and Hinduism against Muslims in India. Islam now dominates occurrences of violence con-
Book-Review 427
nected with religion with its numerous suicide bombings and anti-American terrorism.
The author finally concludes that religious violence has no identifiable and universal
profile and there is no clear correlation between a specific religion and violence- except for
Islam. But there are three paradigmatic levels that can be identified:-
1 . Violence is no part of human genetic make-up and there is no violent activity which is
sufficiently exact to be co-related to any social or religious activity.
2. Violence is nearer to the surface in societies whose dissatisfaction with modernity
could be fitted irilo the ideas remaining of their medieval civilization with its spectacu-
lar buildings and specialized writing system.
3. The third paradigm of religious violence provides the immediate solutions for difficul-
ties which may require public rather than private expression.
Overall there will always be the occasions of religious violence either definitely provoked
by those whose interests are served by this and/or in reaction to secular events which are
interpreted as antagonistic to a particular faith. Thus Tanner has made a great effort in trying
to explain religious violence and its various aspects. The book will be valuable to those
working in the field of social sciences
Beena Rai
BOOK REVIEW
Ethnic Issues, Secularism and Conflict Resolution in North-East India by Bimal
J,Deb(Ed.), Concept Publishing Company, New Delhi, 2006, pp. 247.Price Rs.500.
The chapters included in this book were presented in the seminar on Ethnic issues,
secularism and conflict resolution in North-East India held on 25-26 April 2001 organized by
North-East India council for Social Science Research, Shilong. The basic motivation of dif-
ferent ethnic groups for preserving their identities has been a dynamic force in the reorgani-
zation of North- East India. The ideology of ethnic separatism is worldwide phenomenon. In
many parts of the world, the ethnic identities by passed the overarching unifying forces of
national unity. It resulted in inter-ethnic conflict and disintegration of some nation-states.
The feeling of ethnic separation cannot be suppressed by military operation. The only alter-
native to this problem is political dialogue.
In Ethno-nationalism and self-determination Bimal J.Deb has tried to elaborate the
fact that ethnic nationalism has taken deep roots in North-East India which has ignited the
idea of self determination. He believes that the movement is not self-propelled because
428
Book-Review
inteliigentsia and political elites play the vital role of educating and mobilizing the masses
along the path of ethnic separateness. The advocates of ethno-nationalism harp on seces-
sionist element of the right of self-determination which in their view is a fundamental human
right.
J.B.Ganguly in “Ethnic issues, secularism and conflict resolution in North-East India”
states that the ideology of ethnic separation is not a unique one in India because during later
part of 20th century in many parts of the world ethnic identities bypassed the overarching
unifying bonds of the ideology of nationalism resulting in inter-ethnic clashes and disintegra-
tion of some nation-states. The cult of ethnic separatism is further boosted by the trend of
dilution of secular values and growing signs of religious intolerance which must be effec-
tively contained. He admits that instead of trying to resolve ethnic insurgencies by military
means more emphasis should be laid on political dialogue by the government with the insur-
gent groups.
P.C.Biswas in “Growing challenge to the concept of secularism and its special impact
on North-East region” has tried to define secularism. In his article he tried to say that false
cry is made by the Hindus that they are in danger. Fanatic Hindus raise this slogan with a
view to hide the interest of upper class exploiters and try to divert the attention of simple
minded Hindu masses against an imagined enemy, mainly the Muslims. He believes that
India is the homeland of multi-lingual, multi-religious and multi-national communities and no
community living here is alien and nobody can claim to be purely of Aryan race.
B.R.Rizvi in “Ethnicity and Ethnic Movement in North-East IndiS” has tried to explain
the meaning of ethnic group and how ethnic boundaries are maintained in multi-ethnic states.
N.N Bhattacharjya in “Ethnic cultural diversity of north-east India” has tried to show how
ethnic cultural diversity and divisiveness of the region can be calculated by using an index of
ethnic differentiation.
Ramesh Chandra in his article “Ethnic issues and secularism" has tried to work out
the root causes of ethnic conflict. He believes that secularism as an ideology can be used in
ethnic conflict resolution. He believes that through dialectical approach a congenial atmos-
phere of dialogue can be created through which interest of different communities can be
resolved.
Gorky Chakraborty in “Secular thought and communal practices in India and its North-
East” has tried to work out the genesis of secular thought in India along with the features of
indiail secularism in practice. He believes that the Indian model of secularism neither could
keep aside religion nor could blend the secular and sacred values together. Thus it has
become rootless and directionless in its content.
Boolk-Review
429
Amalesh Banarjee in his article “Equality, Fraternity and Development” has tried to
work out the reasons of ethnic conflict and how can these conflicts be resolves, he believes
that ethnic conflicts arise out of socio-economic conditions within political economic struc-
ture of the country. If land, labor, capital, culture and religion are the major source of con-
flicts among the human race then liberty, equality, fraternity and economic development are
the effective means for resolving the conflict.
R.N Prasad in his paper “Secularism in India: Problem and Perspective” had tried to
explain the concept of secularism. He also tried to distinguish between adherence to religion
and communalism. He opines that communalism as a political strategy is opposed to nation-
alism and secularism.
Susmita Priyadashini in her article “Ethnicity, Ethnic conflict and conflict resolution in
North-East India” has tried to find out the reasons of Naja-Kuki conflict and Bodo-non-Bodo
conflict. The issue of Ethinicity and Ethnic Identity in Tripura, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland
and Assam is taken up by Mahadev Chakravarti, R.P Bhattacharjee, Sukhendu Mazumdar
and Lopita Nath respectively.
Last eight to nine articles in this book deal at large with the issue of ethnic conflict in
Assam. Dhruba Pratim Sharma talks about the ideological aspect of Bodo separatism in
Assam.Vashyati Bhuyan elaborate movements of lesser known ethnic groups of Assam
such as Ahom movement, Karbi-Dimisa Autonomy movement. Lipi Ghosh in her article tried
to analyze the role of Ahoms in Assam and to what extend they have been able to develop
and propagate the idea of secularism in Assam. Premlata Devi in her article tried to locate
the factors which sparked off the multifaceted problem of Bodos and which ultimately led to
the Bodoland movement. Mlnakshi Chakraborty in her article tried to give an overview of the
Dimsa society. The Dimsas, popularly known as the hill kacharis are the dominant tribe in
North Chachaf Hills.
Momita Goswami and Lakhahira Dutta through empirical data tried to show the spa-
tial distribution and socio-economic well being of scheduled tribe population in Assam. This
book gives us a real insight about the ethnic problems of North-East India. Since it is a
collection of articles presented in a conference, all articles are very well drafted and worth
reading. If we go about according to the suggestions made by some of the scholars in this
book then we can certainly found out ways and means to resolve the ethnic conflict of North-
East and that too within the framework of secularism.
Tritan^an Raj
Book-Review
430
BOOK REVIEW
NUCLEAR WEAPON FREE ZONE, P. Wloorthy, Concept Pubishing Company,
New Delhi 2006, PP 260 Price Rs. 600/-
Nuclearization in world politics has posed the most formidable challenge before the
existence of humanity. The debate on utilization of nuclear power for both constructive and
destructive purpose began with the advent of nuclear weapons itself. It has been the irony of
world politic & that nuclearization began when the post war international relations started
unfolding in a surcharged atmosphere of cold war consequently when the United States ex-
ploded the first nuclear bomb Trinity at Alamogordo, New Mexico. The Soviet response carne
in the shape of denotation on 29 August 1949, Other great powers like Britain, France and
China too joined the race leading to the stockpile of 27000 nuclear weapons till the date. The
nuclear haves were very much aware of the catastrophic nature of those weapons of Mass
destruction so multilateral initiatives also started with a view to prevent the bilateral use of
nuclear weapons. The idea of nuclear weapon free zone (NWFZ) emerged in order to ensure
the security of states in a particular zone, world security; non-proliferation of nuclear weap-
ons, as well as regional arms control. Howto ascertain mutual assured survival (Mass) in the
wake of weapons of mass destruction and how to replace the concept of deterrence has been
a perennial concern in international politics in the post second world war period.
It is against this backdrop P. Moorthy has tried to examine the concept of nuclear
weapon free zone. He gives a detailed historical account of the initiative of NWFZ. Starting
with the first multilateral treaty on 1 Dec. 1959 named Antarctica treaty the author analyses
the efforts for establishing NWFZ in Central Europe, Northern Europe, the Balkans, Africa,
Mediterranean, India, South Asia and the Middle East. The Antarctic treaty signed by twelve
countries Argentina Belgium, Chile, France, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, South Africa, The
United Kingdom and Northern Ireland, the union of the Soviets Socialist republic and the
United States of America, does not rule out the nuclear test for peaceful purposes. However
Antarctic’s and its surrounding maritime areas have been free from militarization. But Third
world countries are very much critical of this treaty as they want Antarctica to be declared as
common heritage of mankind. Similarly there is contradictory opinion among the states regarding
the outer space treaty.
Tlatoco treaty was the first multilateral treat, signed with the sole aim of establishing
nuclear weapon free zone in Latin America 26 American countries have signed the treaty but
the treaty is not clear about of application. Besides it, U.S. has not ratified the protocol of the
treaty. After Latin America, Australia took Initiative towards certainty a NWFZ in the South
Pacific as a result Rartonga treaty came in to existence on 6 August 1985. Nevertheless
obligation of the contracting parties provided by those five articles of the treaty does not
Book-Review
431
prohibit al! nuclear activities. Even the U.S. is not prepared to dismantle its nuclear infrastructure
in the Pacific.
The irony with the nuclear weapon free zone treaty is that big powers particularly the
U.S. A. never gave a fair deal to the idea of NWFZ. INF treat was signed by the U.S. and the
Soviet Union in 1 987 with a view to destroy all their land based medium range nuclear missile
ranging from 500 to 5000 Km. However it is yet to be realized in practice.
Dr . P. Moorthy has examined the various initiatives pertaining to nuclear weapon free
zone in a critical manner. Divided into six chapters the book under review gives a detailed
description of nuclear weapon free zone and the politics involved in it. Appendices and exhaustive
list of books and articles consulted by the author in courser of preparation to their volume
reflect his meticulous academic plans to bring about are authentic book on the subject. The
author has quite ably performed this tank by producing this book on nuclear weapon free
^ zone. It is indeed a remarkable addition in the literature pertaining to nuclearization in world
politics.
Naresh Kumar
The Indian Journal of Political Science
UPS
The Indian Journal of Political Science
(The Quarterly Journal of Indian Political Science Association)
ISSN 0019-5510
Editor:
Sanjeev Kumar Sharma
Dr. R. Thanagaraj (Chennai)
Dr. Jitendra Narayan (Darbhanga)
Editorial Board
Dr. Jugul Kishore Mishra (Bhubaneswar)
Dr. Muzaffar Assadi (Mysore)
Dr. B. L. Saini (Bundi)
About IJPS :
The Indian Journal of Political Science (IJPS) is the quarterly journal of Indian Political Science
Association (IPSA), IJPS is (since 1939) one of the most reputed refened journals of Political Science
at international level and in fact, the foremost journal of the discipline at national level. IPSA publishes
the IJPS quarterly in March, June, Septem.ber, and December. IJPS reflects the aims and intellectual
tradition of its parent body, the IPSA the advancement of political science, scientific study of politics
and dissemination of knowledge tlirough rigorous political inquiry. Founded in the year 1939, the
journal has evolved over the years as a major forum for publication of scholarly work on ideas and
issues important .to the study of politics. It seeks to promote greater collaborations and exchange of
ideas among political scientists in India and Abroad. Quality papers/articles are invited from the
faculty members, social scientists, scholars and academicians.
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Editor, The Indian Journal of Political Science,
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website : www.ijps.net
Copyright @ 2006
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, in any form or by any means,
electronic, photocopying or otherwise, without permission in writing trom Editor, IJPS.
Views expressed in the article are the personal opinions ot the contributors and are in no sense official.
Neither the Indian Political Science Association nor the Editor is responsible tor them.
Tlie liidiiap Journal of Political Science
X.
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The Uttar Pradesh Journal
of Social Science Research
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CONTEr^TS
i Articles
! Panchayali Raj in India : Local Governance in Action for Social Development
I V. Bhaskar Rao
i E-govemance : A Study of the Model Gram Panchayat (Bellandur) in Karnataka
i B.S. Bhargava. Mangala Nayak. K. Subha
! Institutional Responsiveness and Good Governance : A case of Kerala's Grama Sabhas
I B. Mohannand J. Mary John
I Decentralisation and Rural Development in India : Empowerment. Strategies and Emerging Challenges
; D. Sundar Ram
Women Empowerment through Pwchayali Raj Insilutions: A Study
^ S. S. Sreekumar •
Determinants of People's Participation in Decentralised Planning and Development
Sitakanta Sethi
Notes and Comments
Effective Decentralisation in India': A Continuing Process of Reform
Kuldeep Mathur
Municipal Governance in Multi-local Habitations : Issues for Consideration
P, K. Chaubey
Grassroots Perception
Grassroots Democracy in Haryana : Some Field Observations
Ranbir Singh
Document
Devolution to Panchayats in Andhra Pradesh : The Way Forward
(MoU between the Chief Minister of AP and Union Minister for Par>chayati Ra] and
Youth Affairs & Sports. Govt of India, April 22, 2006)
Book Reviews :
Rohini Nayyar & Alak N. Sharma (Eds.) Rural Transfomwtior) in India : The Role of Non-farm
sector. New Delhi, Institute for Human Development. 2005.
«-( Ramesh K. Arora (Ed.) Public Administration : Fresh Perspectives. Jaipur, Aalekh Publishers. 2004.
' Rakesh Hooja
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The Indian Journal
Of
Political Science
Editor:
Sanjeev Kumar Sharma
mx^ »;■.-.■*.» »i,
m !
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THE QUARTERLY JOURNAL OF
INDIAN POLITICAL SCIENCE ASSOCIATION
Dear Friends,
Greetings from Meerut.
Wish you a very happy and prosperous New Year. Thanks for again electing me the Editor of the Indian
Journal of Political Science at 53rd All India Conference of Indian Political Science Association at University of
Rajasthan, Jaipur on 27-29 Dec. 2006 1 am happy that my request to increase the subscription rates of UPS was
considered by the Executive and the General Body of the Association authorized me to decide the issue. I have
regularly been pleading that the present subscription structure is inappropriate and financially problematic to the
regularity and periodicity of the journal. Therefore, keeping in view the printing cost and postage charges, the
subscription rates are hereby being revised w.e.f. 01-01-2007 as follows
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With best regards
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Sanjeev K. Sharma
The Indian Journal of Political Science
Voi. LXVIli No. 3, July - Sept., 2007
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Editorial Note :
1. Satyanarayana Sangita
Deceritrarisation for Good Governance and Service Delivery in India :
Theory and Practice 447-464
2. K. P. Mishra
Fukuyama's End of History : Triumph of the Liberal state 465-474
3. Aureliano Fernandes
Rural Transformation Through Basic Technologies 475-482
4. Debidatta Aurobinda Mahapatra
Political Philosophy of Hegel and Aurobindo : A comparison 483-496
5. Rashmi Shrivastava
Environmental Stewardship and Sustainable Development :
A Study of the Role of Government in Rehabilitation of persons
affected by Sardar Sarovar Dam in India 497-508
6. M. A. Hussain
Urban Governance and Politics : A Case Study of Tirupati 509-522
7. Sansar Singh Janjua
Administrative Machinery for Consumer's Interest :
An Analytical Study 523-532
8. Jayanta Krishna Sarmah
Role of Non-Governmental Organisations
for Tribal Development and Social Welfare 533-546
9. Jagdish K. Patnaik
The Doha Round of World Trade Negotiations ;
A preview and perspective 547-560
10. S. K. Biswas
Election Trend in Bay Islands : Parliamentary Constituency : A Study 561-576
11. Alak Bhattacharya
Tribal Politics of Tripura : A Study In Electoral Behaviour 577-588
12. A. Thanikodi, M. Sugirtha
Status of Women in Politics 589-606
13.
NaiduAshok
Secularism Re-Examined
607-614
14.
Shabana Sultan
The West Asian Oil and the Great Powers
615-628
15.
Karuna Singh
Prime Minister's Office : A Critical Analysis
629-640
Book“Reviews
16. AditiTyagi
Measure For Measure: Lynching Deaths In West Bengal
A Sociological Study by Samit Kar, K.P.Bagchi & Company,
Kolkata, 2006, pp. 247, Price Rs. 400.
17. R. S. Yadav
Nalin Kumar Mohapatra, Political Culture and Democratic
Development In Central Asia, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad
Institute of Asian Studies, Kolkata, and Bookwell, New Delhi,
2006, Rs.750/- (ISBN 81-89640-17-8).
CONTRIBUTORS
1. Dr. A. Thanikodi is Professor & Head in Political Science Wing DDE,
Annamalai University, Annamalai Nagar, Chidambaram (Tamil Nadu)
2. Ms. Aditi Tyagi is research scholar, Department of Political Science,
CCS University, Meerut. (Uttar Pradesh).
3. Dr. Alak Bhattacharya is Lecturer in the Department of Political Science,
Tripura University, Tripura
4. Dr. Aureliano Fernandes is Head, Department of Political Science, Goa,
University, Taleigo Plateau (Goa)
5. Dr. Debidatta Aurodindo Mahapatra is Research Faculty, Centre for
Eurasian Studies, University of Mumbai, Mumbai (Maharashtra)
6. Dr. J. K. Patnaik is Head, Department of Political Science, Mizoram
University, Aizawl (Mizoram)
7. Dr. Jayanta Krishna Sarmah is Senior Lecturer in the Department of
Political Science, Darrang College, Tezpur (Assam)
8. Dr. K.P. Mishra is Assistant Professor of Political Science, Govt. College,
Shahnagar, Distt. Panna (M.P.)
9. Dr. Karuna Singh is Lecturer in the Department of Political Science,
Dhempe College, Arts & Science, Panaji, (Goa)
10. Dr. M. Sugirtha is Lecturer in Political Science Wing DDE, Annamalai
University, Annamalai Nagar, Chidambaram (Tamil Nadu)
Dr. M. A. Hussain is Professor of Political Science and Public
Administration, S.V. University, Tirupati (Andhra Pradesh)
1
12. Dr. Naidu Ashok is Associate Professor & Principal, Department of
Political Science, Osmania University, P.G. College, Mahabubnagar
13. Dr. R. S. Yadav is Professor, Department of Political Science,
Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra
14. Dr. Rashmi Shrivastava is Professor of Political Science, School of
Studies in Political Science, Vikram University, Ujjain (M.P.)
15. Dr. S, K. Biswas is Lecturer in the Department of Political Science,
J.N.R. Mahavidyalaya, Port Blair (Andaman & Nicobar islands)
16. Dr. Sansar Singh Janjua is Reader, Department of Political Science,
Punjabi University, Patiala (Panjab)
17. Dr. Satyanarayana Sangita is Professor & Head, Centre for Political
Institutions, Governance and Development, institute for Social and
Economic Change Nagarabhavi, Bangalore (Karnataka)
18. Dr. Shabana Sultan is research scholar in the Department of Political
Science, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh (U.P.)
Editorial Note
Dear Friends,
The concepts, ideologies and terminologies associated with the understanding of Indian
polity in perspective of analyzing the largest democracy of modern world have, to a great
extent, been shaped, determined and disseminated by either the scholars of western
universities, (though some of them have essential Indian affiliations) or by Indian scholars
having been mainly graduated in Western models and constructs and to a large extent the
mental environment and set-up also. We have, that way, been fortunate enough to have
some exceedingly brilliant expositions on different political movements and institutions with
finest analysis and emphatic comprehension of the intricacies of Indian polity brought out by
these intellectual leaders. There are good number of research papers, books and scholarly
works presented by the collaborative efforts of western and Indian analysts! In addition to
that, system analysts have also produced well documented descriptions of the events and
developments of the polity both at macro and micro level. Whatsoever are the academic
limits and boundaries of these research pursuits, the usefulness and relevance of them
remains above average keeping in view their utility in increasing the understanding of different
political and social institution of this ‘oldest’ and largest democracy of the world. Though
some of my friends may vehemently argue that the ideological inclinations of most of these
outstanding works have to be essentially contested because of their one-sidedness and the
overwhelming ‘left-liberal’ approach and admittedly, to a significantly great extent the argument
appears to be solid and valid and to the utter dismay of sound objective discourse lovers the
point is never well taken by our intellectual giants, yet we must acknowledge the efforts and
appreciate the amount of work produced which necessarily contains sufficient merit
extraordinary labour. The critics of these research outputs are, unfortunately, very less in
number and their whole exercise is limited only to make their observations either through
some news media articles, comments or scholarly presentations in seminars. Their inability
to produce their point of view in a systematic manner through well prepared and perfectly
drafted research papers is great cause of concern for all the people craving for sound and
sincere debate on various issues of academic importance.
The events and developments shaping the contours of Indian polity may sometimes
essentially lead to overwhelming confusion and mis-understanding about the political parties,
ideologies, manifestos, leadership and programes thereof. The behaviour pattern of our
political leaders is unfortunately not attaching the respect of the common masses. Their
large scale involvement in corrupt practices while remaining in public offices has immensely
affected the public faith in political institutions and administrative setups. The leadership of
our political parties is being characterized primarily by self-promoting political actors
concentrating mainly on the expansion of their vote banks so as to ensure electoral gains.
They are busy in making financial growth out of the positions occupied by them and thereby
thwarting the process of democratization. The public anger is most of the time reflected in
small upsurges against the administrative machinery and the one-sided victories and defeats
of different political groups in parliamentary and legislative assembly elections. The ideological
orientations have completely been relegated to the back-burner and the considerations of
castes and sub-caste group with the exterior decoration of ‘social engineering’ have emerged
out of the attraction of subsequent success at the polls. The organizational structures of
most of the political parties in our country have collapsed and the apparent hierarchy is
comprised of either the family members or psychofants. Therefore, the debate and discourse
as well as the elements of internal democracy are completely missing. The programmes of
our political parties are generally based on adhock issues and contingent planning.
The contemporary nature of the working of our political parties has not been promoting
any recruitment with proper socialization. Therefore, the bondage of ideology has also not
remained any kind of cementing force for the upcoming leadership. Their objectives of their
entry into the main stream politics have also been shaped by the allurement of material
achievements of money and positions. This has led to the almost lack of any wide spread
cadre and the dedicated workforce capable of social mobilization and becoming opinion
leaders to the masses, which has resulted In directionless political movements, upwardship
of leaders with no mass base to the higher positions in the organizations, dearth of
sustainability of the issues, complete withdrawal of ideological commitments from the common
programmes only because of power combinations, and the loss of faith of the general masses
in the whole political system. The imminent natural corollary of this has been the gradual
apathy of the citizens in the political processes which is a serious threat to the democratic
governance. This is our main concern as students of political science and public
administration. Therefore, sincere efforts are required to it make possible that our important
political institutions gain requisite respect and become properly democratized institutions of
public governance through political recruitment and socialization, interest aggregation, interest
articulation and political communication. For this we all have to perform our duties in such a
manner fhat our social obligations are not in any case hampered by our academic pursuits.
Therefore, the shastra says:
12 October 2007
Meerut
4 \)
(Sanjeev Kumar Sharma)
The Indian Journal of Political Science
Vol. LXVIll, No. 3, July-Sept., 2007
DECENTRALISATION FOR GOOD GOVERNANCE AND SERVICE
DELIVERY IN INDIA : THEORY AND PRACTICE
Satyanarayana Sangita
Democratic decentralisation tends strongly to enhance speed, quantity and quality of
responses from government institutions. But in some countries, it even likely to result
in increased costs, lessened efficiency and probably greater inequality. From this
perspective the paper examines the implications of the decentralisation on quality of
governance and service delivery in theory and practice in India. These issues have
been analyzed through conceptual and analytical framework. For this purpose, the
study has been conducted on local governance in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.
Decentralised governance has occupied a very prominent place in nation building and
developmental strategies of developing countries in recent years. It is some times viewed as either
a panacea or plague. Some argued for it on the grounds that it promotes efficiency, effectiveness
and equity in delivery of services. According to them, it facilitates people's participation, preferences
and helps to mobilise both human and financial resources as well as contains corruption and
ensures accountability (Richard Berd et.al. 1999, Rondeneli, 1999, UNDP 1998, World Bank
1 999, Pranab Bardhan 1 996, Crooks and James Manor 1 998, Shamsel Hague, 1 999). Democratic
decentralisation tends strongly to enhance speed, quantity and quality of responses from government
institutions (Manor, 1 999). Local governments have both authority and resources to respond quickly
to problems and pressures from below without waiting for approval at higher levels. On the other
hand, others argued that these virtues are unlikely to be achieved in the context of countries in
which citizen preferences are unlikely translated into budget outcomes and the institutional capacity
of existing sub-national agencies is close to nil. From this perspective decentralisation seems
likely to result in increased costs, lessened efficiency in service delivery and probably greater
inequality (Rodrigues, 1 999: 299).
Keeping this perspective in view, the paper examines the implications of the decentralization
on quality of governance and service delivery in theory and practice in India. These issues are
analysed with the help of a conceptual and analytical framework. The study is mainly based on
secondary sources and personal observations of the local governance in Karnataka and Andhra
Pradesh. The second section deals with the conceptual and analytical framework. Autonomy
capacity and accountability of PRIs are discussed in the third section. Fourth section deals with
the outcomes and service delivery. In the fifth section, the role of state and civil society (social
capita!) in facilitating autonomy, empowerment and accountability of decentralised governance
institutions for improving the quality of governance and service delivery are discussed.
II
Analytical framework
Devolution of powers, responsibilities and resources to local government promotes good
The Indian Journal of Political Science
448
governance and better service delivery. Devolution of powers deepens democracy and enhances
the legitimacy of political system for promoting peace and prosperity in a plural society like
India. Devolution also promotes legitimacy, transparency and accountability of the local government
and security and participation of the people In local decision making (CIDA, 1998: World Bank,
2001 : cited in Romeo, Leonardo G, 2003:90). It generates incentives for people to own the local
government, since newly assigned responsibilities and resources are reievantto them ( Litwack
et al; 1 998). It prornotes representative and responsive grass t oot level leadership. It also generates
allocative and productive efficiency and accelerated better service delivery as shown in the chart.
Chart : Analytical Framework For Decentralised Governance & Service Delivery
I SOCIAL CAPITAL I
Decentralisation
Good Governance
Outcomes
Autonomy
Capacity
Empowerment j
Political/administrative/f
inanciai i
Participation
Transparency
Accountability
(Leaders &
Efficiency
Equity
Accessibility
Allocative efficiency is high in decentralised governance rather than the higher level
government. Local information and needs can be ascertained by local governments more
accurately and thereby identify project or location of the project which has maximum utility or
welfare gain. This is more so where needs are more diversified. For instance, some villages need
water facility rather than roads. In such situation the utilisation of the former is more than the
latter provided by the central government. Many centrally sponsored rural development
programmes in the past failed due to wrong priorities, design and location. Roads, school
building, tanks, field channels built were not effectively used as they were not strategically
Decentralisation for Good Governance and Service Delivery in India 449
located to the needs of people. Similarly, many hand pumps were out of order, since people
never had the feeling of owning them.
Productive efficiency is also high in decentralised governance. Firstly, people’s involvement
in formulation and implementation results in reduction in transactional cost. People’s monitoring
has greatly contributed to minimise wastages and leakages. Their close observation prevented
the procurement of substandard inputs like goods and materials. Close monitoring helped
improve the attendance of teachers and doctors in schools and hospitals respectively. Secondly,
it helps to mobilise additional resources (voluntary contribution tike land, capital and labour) for
promoting rural development. Such contributions accounted for 20 to 40 per cent of the expenditure
of the community development blocks in 1 950. Many villagers donated lands for construction of
schools and hospitals. Even instances such as repair of field canals and tanks, and construction
of buildings and roads were evident. Even people's involvement has also helped to manage
village common property resources. Thirdly people’s involvement is also resulted in improvement
in collection of levies, betterment and user charges. One-third of the contribution has come from
the villagers to construct rural roads in Andhra Pradesh under the World Bank funds in recent
years. Fourthly, selection/location of members is very effective, whenever they are selected
through the grama sabha meetings. The involvement of grama sabha has brought down the
selection of wrong places and persons.
Decentralised governance enables the poor to articulate policies very effectively. PRis
role in effectively implementing land reforms and emergency relief programmes in West Bengal
has been well documented by many studies (Prabhat Kumar Datta, 1996; M.N. Roy, 1995). The
programme of recording names of sharecroppers, particularly known as Operation Barga (OB)
programme was formerly undertaken by the administrators. This task was given to PRIs, when
they came into existence in 1 978. Village and block panchayat played a very significant role for
its success in recording of share-croppers' identification of vested land and distribution for poor.
Devolution of powers can be translated into good governance outcomes, if it is supported
by the development of local government capacity. The local government capacity can be
understood at three levels viz.; individual, the institutional and systemic (UNDP, 1998). The
individual level capacity includes the abilities, values, attitudes of elected representatives and
administrators in local government. The institutional linkages include structures, procedures
and operating rules of local government in establishing vertical and horizontal linkages within
and outside the government departments for effective coordination for formulation, implementation
and monitoring of policies and programmes. The systematic level includes policy and legal
framework within which the local government operates, and the rules and practices with which it
interacts with other actors (Romeo, Leonardo G, 2003)
The Indian Journal of Political Science
450
Both autonomy and capacity of local government ultimately depend upon the participative
and accountability mechanisms of the local government. Three types of accountability
mechanisms are existing to ensure accountability. They are hierarchical, internal and external
accountability. Hierarchical accountability control mechanisms include: inspections by higher
level body, approval of local government decisions and budgets, deployment of central level
personnel to local governments, use of powers of suspension and dissolution of local body.
Internal mechanisms include; code of conduct, budgetary and personnel control, internal audit
mechanisms and disciplinary, supervisory arrangements.
The external mechanisms include periodical elections, recall, referendum, report cards
surveys, and ombudsman and so on. Elections are vital to ensure people's participation, provision
of information and accountability. Periodical elections provide opportunity for people to asses
sthe performance of the leaders forelection. Oversight of the elected representative over the
budgets, audit reports and performance ensures the accountability. Budgets are to be prepared
(to raise and spend) and obtain approval from the general body/ legislatures. Administrators are
to be adhered to the set procedures for raising and spending money, inviting tenders, awarding
contracts and procuring material. The auditors report exposing the weakness of financial
management (nature and extent of loss of public money and stock, misappropriation, unauthorised
expenditure. Violation of prescribed rules and procedures, fraud or theft, embezzlement and
incorrect book keeping) to be placed before the general body (Sharma: 1 997; 60). The legislative
committee headed by the leader of the opposition presents the misappropriation and irregularities
on the basis of audit report to legislative body on the lines of parliamentary committee, it also
suggests various measures to rectify the weaknesses.
Similarly, many mechanisms are existing to contain corruption and injustices to the
citizens arising out of mal-administration. Anti-corruption institutions like Lokayukta, Anti-corruption
Bureau, Vigilance Commission investigate charges against public officials on the basis of
complaints and recommend action including suspension for erring officials. Similarly, the judiciary
and media also play a significant role in ensuring accountability.
L
Devolution of powers to sub national levels will not automatically result into outcomes
unless state and civil society commit for decentralisation. The state commitment to demiocratic
decentralisation should translate into four conventional types of measures /actions; (a) enabling,
(b) financing, (c) supporting and (d) supervising. While the first two refer to creating the legal
framework nd securing the resources for the local authorities to operate, the second two refer
to local institutional strengthening and related performance monitoring and legality controls.
The state should also accept responsibility for supervising local authorities in ways that go
beyond the traditional administrative (legality) controls and financial auditing. Supervision must
be extended to the specific monitoring of the performance of local authorities in the adoption and
Decentralisation for Good Governance and Service Delivery In India 451
implementation of participatory planning, and it must cover both process and outcomes of such
implementation. Performance monitoring would then enable a system of incentives and penalties
to be established to support the adoption of local-level participatory planning.
In the final analysis, the accountability of both national and local governments depends
on the people's capacity to articulate the exercise of power, which requires the existence of a
vibrant civil society and a strong democratic political culture. In general, civil society provides
public space to facilitate rational and critical discourse which is essential to form critical public
opinion regarding state policies and Institutions, create organisations and associationa! bonds
among citizens, enhance people's power to challenge the hegemony of central and local
administration and thus, make cultural and local authorities publicly accountable (Hague, 1 997).
Autonomy (Political, Administrative and Financial)
PRIs in Karnataka are emerging as units of local self-government just like Kerala and West
Bengal for promoting the development. PRIs enjoy political, administrative and financial autonomy
in many respects, although it is far behind from the earlier system. Firstly, the State Government
in order to improve the functioning of PRIs has constituted from time to time many expert committees
to associate with various finance committees. They include Krishnaswamy, 1987, P R Nayak
1987, R M Honnavar1989, G Thimmaiah1996 and N Viswanathan, 2002. Secondly, Karnataka
and Sikkim were the first states to transfer all major responsibilities along with resources (central
and state plan schemes and other resources) to PRIs (Mahi Pal, 2000). Many centrally sponsored
programmes have been transferred to PRIs, which hitherto was not done by many States. All 29
functions as mentioned in schedule and resources are transferred to PRIs (assign 30 specific
subjects to VPS, 28 to TPs and 28 ZPs). PRIs can prepare plans for subjects like agriculture,
animal husbandry, primary and secondary education, public health, rural roads and housing,
women and children, social welfare, public distribution, public libraries and so on. GPs can undertake
regulatory functions such as issues of licence, approval of building plans, and maintenance of
common properties, assets and buildings. They can provide basic services such as drinking water
and sanitation and maintain village roads, buildings and streetlights.
Thirdly, the elected head of the ZP is given the status of a minister and entrusted with the
executive powers. The chief executive officer who controls the district level departments works
under the overall supervision of the elected ZP President. Fourthly, many initiatives have been
taken to minimise the interference of the State Government in PRIs. particularly In holding of
elections. Powers such as demarcation of constituencies and reservation of seats are transferred
to SEC from the DC. This was very essential to conduct free and fair elections and enjoy the
trust of all political parties. In fact, there were allegations against the ruling party for demarcating
452
The Indian Journal of Political Science
constituencies and reserving seats to the advantage of the ruling party.
Fifthly, financial resources accounting 30-35 per cent of State’s resources are transferred
to the PRIs on the basis of SFC recommendations. . For instance, the Government had released
33.61 per cent (2,691 crores) to PRIs and 3.61 per cent (about Rs 290 crores) to urban bodies
in 2002. In fact, it was slightly higher in the earlier system (37.22 per cent in 1987-88 and also
higher than the FCs recommendation (Sivanna, 2002). The State grant to GPs for maintenance
has been increased over the years. The average state grant to GP has increased from Rs. 1 lakh
to Rs.2 lakh in 1 999 and again to Rs.3.5 lakh in 2001 . The income of GP has gone up to Rs.6.00
lakh and further more to Rs.7.50 lakh as the State Government has announced an additional
grant of Rs.1.5 lakh, while presenting the 2003-04 Budget (Karnataka 2003; Babu, 2004). The
GPs are given powers to levy tax on property, water, vehicles, entertainment, advertisement and
so on. Even they can collect fees from markets, cattle grounds, and bus stands. Both VP and
TP get proceeds from cess on land revenue. GP can also acquire, hold and dispose off property,
L
both movable and immovable. However ZP and TP have no such powers.
In spite of these provisions. PRIs in Karnataka are not fully autonomous. Firstly, the
constitution of parallel bodies outside the PRIs’ purview undermines the autonomy of PRIs.
Village level committees such as educational committees. Village Forest Committees (VFCs),
Water Users Association can be mentioned in this regard. Even development activities undertaken
under Member of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS), MLA funds and
regional boards such as Hyderabad Development Board (HDB), and Mainad Development Board
(MDB) etc., also undermine the importance of PRIs. In addition, the association of MLAs,
MLCs, and MPs with PRIs through voting rights also undermine the autonomy of the PRIs.
Secondly, the elected heads have no control over the administrative heads, although the
heads of ZP and TP are designated as executive heads. State minister status enjoyed under the
earlier Act has not been restored to the ZP president, in spite of expert committees’ recommendation.
Even the staff is not under the control of the PRIs. The elected leaders have no power to take action
against the erring officials, although ZP president in earlier system initiated confidential reports of
CEO (chief secretary). In fact, PR Nayak committee has suggested for transfer of group C and D
staff to PRIs. Besides this, the administrators have been given overriding powers over PRIs to
prevent wrongdoings. CEO can withhold the resolutions passed by the ZP, If it violates the rules.
However, the supervisory control of the GPs has been removed from the administrative control of
the Assistant Commissioner through the recent amendments. The VP president has no financial
powers, although ZP and TP presidents are given such powers.
Thirdly, the PRIs are also not considered to be financially fully autonomous. They
completely depend upon Central and State Government grants. For instance, they constitute
around 77 per cent of the total revenues of GPs. While GPs own tax and non-tax revenue
Decentralisation for Good Governance and Service Delivery in India 453
constitute 20 per cent and 3 per cent respectively (Babu, 2002), the average internal resource
mobilisation per capita ranges from Rs. 7.66 to 15.20 in Karnataka. Added to this, most of these
funds are tied-up grants on which GPs have little freedom to spend according to the local needs.
For instance, 57.77 per cent of GP income and expenditure is under JRY funds provided by the
Centra! Government. In some GPs, it constitutes around 80 per cent (Sivanna 2002). Besides,
Z P and T P have no taxation powers (except the 3 per cent surcharge on stamp duty for T P).
They entirely depend upon State and Centra! grants (Babu 1 999).
Capacity (Political, Administrative and Financial) of the PRIs
Autonomy is meaningful, if the PRIs have the required capacity (political, administrative
technical and financial) to translate powers into concrete action. This ultimately depends upon
the distribution of activities among the three tiers and their effective horizontal and vertical linkages,
and the capacity of officials and non-officials manning these institutions. Karnataka has taken
major initiative in this regard. A detailed activity mapping is presented in the Box 6. There is no
clear division of responsibility among the tiers in overlapping functional areas.
Box 1 : Activity Mappings: a Step forward for PRIs
Karnataka Government has a progressive record for strengthening PRIs. State government
has come out with activity mapping wherein specific responsibilities were identified at three
levels. A particular job/responsibility has been given to a particular level. The essence is that what
is appropriate at a given level of PRIs, should be done at that level and not simply at upper level.
Hence, the overlapping can be avoided. Important tasks have been identified for every level so that
services can be made effective. Plan formulation, implementation, budgeting, evaluation and
monitoring responsibilities are distributed among them according their competent and reliability.
For instance, the responsibility of enrolment of school age children, maintaining school
building and play grounds, exercise vigilance on regular attendance of teachers and students and
report to the concerned, assessment for drop out position and initiate appropriate measures to
reduce are given to GP; ZP is made responsible for assessing the requirements of schools,
teachers, equipment in the district and plan for them; and monitoring the functioning of primary
and upper primary schools are vested to taluka level. Similarly, identification of schemes and
locations for water supply, maintaining water supply schemes rest entirely with GP. ZP is entrusted
with the responsibility of formulation of major water supply schemes, approval of schemes
proposed by TPs and GPs, establishing water testing laboratories and award contracts for the
execution of major schemes coming out side the TP and GP plans. With regard to health care, the
ZP is responsible to provide physical infrastructure, co-ordination of communicable diseases
programmes, school health programmes, lEC campaigns and planning of rural sanitation
programmes. The specific activities identified for the GP include chlorinating of village tanks and
wells, spraying of DDT, construction of sanitary latrines, cleaning of roads and drainage, formation
of village health committees, and mobilisation of people for family planning and immunisation
camps. GPs are also responsible for supervision of the activities of ANMs and anganawadi
workers. They are supposed to report the outbreak of epidemics and helping emergency medical
relief services.
The Indian Journal of Political Science
Participation and Empowerment
454
The PRls are made accessible to the people including the disadvantaged groups to
participate in the governance and improve their livelihood systems. Firstly, the establishment of
small PRI struqtures/units nearing the people (6,000 and 400 population for GP and ward
respectively) motivates them to participate in the election of good leaders and selection of
relevant policies. High turnout in PR election reflects this trend. Forinstance, the voter turn put
was 68.6 percent in 2P and TP elections in 1 995 and 53.5 per cent in 1 993 GP elections (Satlsh
Chandran, 2000:140). This percentage is always higher than the State and National Elections
(40-55 per cent), not withstanding the GPs’ low percentage due to the non-partisan elections
(absence of political parties in the GPs elections). Secondly, the small units enabled people to
assess the performance of the leaders very closely and thereby selection of good leaders, if the
elections are held free and fair. The defeat of highest number of non -performing leaders in GP
elections reflects this trend. For instance, 30 to 40 per cent members are elected in 1999 GP
elections. A large per cent of them got elected for the first time. This is true, wherever, the
elections are conducted free and fair and the influence of elite is less due to strict watch of the
civil society and vigilance of the political parties. Elite capture (leaders with the naoney, communal
and muscle power) is very common in the absence of such forces. Unanimous election of 30 per
cent of the total membership of 80,627 in 1993 GP elections reflects this trend. Similarly, 27.7
per cent got elected unopposed in the recent elections. The local elites and community elders
and influential leaders chose most of them.
Thirdly, the constitution of Gram Sabha and Ward Committees’ meetings provide information
about the intended activity to the people to select relevant schemes. These meetings also help
people to select the beneficiaries and localities on the basis of merit and thereby prevent the
non-poor and undeserved from availing the benefits. These meetings also help the citizen to
assess the extent of fulfillment of the promises and commitments made in the earlier meetings.
Such monitoring also minimises corruption, since expenditure is placed before the meetings.
These mechanisms helped to ensure the accountability.
Fourthly, reservation of seats and capacity building through the training and competitive
political parties and active civil society has empowered the disadvantaged groups (women, SC/
STs and OBCs). Reservation of seats and positions in PRls for women and backward castes in
Karnataka enabled these groups to be present in PRls in big number. Women accounted for
46.7 (37. 689) per cent in gram panchayats in 1999. It was 40.2 (1 , 343) and 36.45 (335) per
cent respectively at the TP and ZP levels respectively. It is the case with other disadvantaged
groups. SC/STs constituted around 32.20 percent in GPs and 23.67 and 23.06 percent in TPs
and ZPs respectively in 1999. The corresponding figure for OBC was 33.24, 33.32, and 33.30
respectively (Sivanna, 2002). This representation has helped the disadvantaged to articulate
Decentralisation for Good Governance and Service Delivery in India 455
their views in governing councils for Improving their livelihoods and their awareness is very high
due to the presence of political parties and civil society.
Studies pointed out that reservation has improved the awareness and perception levels of
women and it has created an urge in them to participate in the governance. Twenty five per cent
of the women members found visible change in their status within the family after they have been
elected. About 60 per cent of women said that they would encourage women to contest election.
The same per cent is contemplating to contest election (PRIA, 2000). In an all women GP of
Mydolalu in Karnataka it was found that the women were performing better than men in promoting
all round development. Interestingly, all women in this GP got elected for the first time and had
no previous experience (Bhargava and Subha 1999).
However, some studies did not agree with this view. They pointed out that their articulation
capacity is very weak and played no effective role in council meetings and remained silent or
participated as directed by others (Blair 2000). Scholars attributed the following reasons for their
ineffective articulation. Firstly, women are elected as proxies for male family members or elites.
This de facto politics negatively affected women's political participation and also the scope of
addressing gender interest (Vijayalakshmi, 2002). This is more so in the case of tribal women.
The wide disparities in social and economic conditions of STs and their marginal position in the
development process are major constraints in their participation in the governance (Vijayalakshmi,
2001 ). Thirdly, gender and other social differences hindered in exercising their power effectively as
political representatives. Many women did not perceive their position as a personal achievement;
it was rather seen as involving their husbands, patrons and other prominent men. They owe their
position to political contacts and economic position of their male family members. Fourthly,
women representatives were seen less favourable in terms of knowledge, political skills, ability to
learn and in their orientation to activities of the public sphere (Vijayalakshmi, 2003).
Transparency, Accountability and Corruption
Studies unraveled that the decentralised governance ensures greater accountability and
transparency in delivery of the services at the grassroots level (Aziz 1994). The experience of
panchayat election shows that election became a powerful mechanism for accountability even
though intimidation and vote buying are the hallmarks of election scenario in India. This is
because if the elected leaders do network devotedly for the upliftment of rural society, they will
not be able to win the election next time (Blair 2000). The defeat of large percent of sitting
members in PR elections as discussed earlier reflects this trend. Studies even mentioned that
the accountability of officials to the elected representatives has increased. Responsible officials
(like PHG medical officer, agricultural and veterinary officer etc.) can be asked for their presence
in the PRIs meetings. In the meeting an officer may be asked/questioned for his/her performance.
456
The ffidlan Journal of Political Science
Some studies did not agree with this view that the accountability is one of the weakest
aspects of the panchayat system. The ineffective accountability and non-responsiveness of
elected representative is a major problem in delivering quality services. For instance, panchayat
representatives have not been responsive to their constituents and have not acted in their interests
(inbanathan 2002). The following reasons are attributed for non-responsiveness. Firstly, PRIs
have no recall mechanism to ensure greater accountability. The elected members have no
regular and frequent communication with their voters. Voters have very rare chance to ask
questions if their members are not functioning according to their desires. Secondly, the ethical
values of leaders are very low. Many leaders perceive that the official positions in PRIs bring
prosperity. Attitude of gaining benefits from their tenure as panchayat members is not seen as
a morally abhorrent activity, but as perfectly acceptable convention. Thirdly, the elected
representatives considered that they are answerable to their sponsors/local elites and not to the
local people/ electorate. It was the husbands who took the panchayat-related decisions, but the
women were apparently accountable. This is because that a large per cent of members were
elected through the intervention and support of the local leaders or village elites (Inbanathan
2002).
Many initiatives have been taken to ensure accountability of leaders to people and reducing
the corruption. Holding of Gram Sabha (GS) meetings has been made mandatory. Ward Sabha
for 400 population was constituted in 2003 to ensure effective control over the officials. Social
audit (Jamabandhi) has been introduced to monitor the progress of various works executed, in a
study, it was found that the social auditing was made by the administrators particularly GP
secretaries who are responsive and accountable to the citizen with respect to their scheduled
tasks and responsibilities (Sivanna and Babu, 2004). It has ultimately resulted in responding to
the demands of stakeholders and ensuring effective delivery of services.
However, some studies found thatthe GS meetings were not held regularly. The attendance
in these meetings was thin and declined over the years. Moreover, meetings were mechanical
without any seriousness. GS meetings have been reduced to a meaningless ritual primarily
aimed at rubber-stamping decisions about work undertaken. Thus, many meetings were conducted
on paper and signatures were obtained subsequently without full consultation with the gram
sabha (Aiyar2004). In many villages, members do not feel enthusiastic for holding meeting,
because of the fear of harassment from citizens (Aziz et al 2000).
Corruption and Transparency
Though scholars have raised the issue that the PRIs have increased the corruption, and
there is no proper evidence about it, the present study finds that decentralised governance
enhances greater transparency and reduces the incidence of grand corruption at the grassroots
Decentrailsatiori for Good Governance and Service Deliveiy In India 4S7
level (Aziz 1 994). Another study found that corruption among PRIs functionaries was minimal
where media, and civil society were effective. The rent seeking is more in areas where institutions
like grama sabha, media and civil society organisations are non-functional (Inbanathan, 2001 ).
However, some studies found that the representatives are using their positions for personal
gains rather than the public interest. A significant proportion of the representatives could be
accused of shirking their responsibilities, and they were also found guilty of corrupt practices.
Box 2 : Experience of Belandur Gram Panchayat in Bangalore District
The Belandur Gram Panchayat has underground drainage system and garbage collection
facilities. The villagers don’t have water problem. There is no distributional discrimination between
the rich and the poor. The panchayat ensures equal quantity of water to every household, it has
provided mini water schemes with 5 overhead tanks to every ward. The member residing in ward
takes the responsibility for maintenance of water supply facilities. Besides this, there are 5 employees
who have been employed by the GP for maintenance of drinking water supply. GP has made bye-
law for fair delivery of water to all households. A penalty of Rs. 2000 can be levied for illegal water
connection or the regular connection may be disconnected for a period of six months. About Rs. 25 1
lakh has been spent for the construction of drainage system. Toilets are being constructed for all the
households, including those living below the poverty line. There is no evidence of open defecation
in the panchayat area, in 2001-02, about 365 toilets were constructed in this panchayat under I
different schemes. GP took a mandatory decision that it will construct more than 40 latrines in a year. '
Hundred per cent water tariffs are collected from the people. It is important to mention that the ■
annual income of the panchayat is more than 1,7 crores. Factors that play crucial role to make'
success of the activities of this panchayat are many. However the important factor Is the quality of
leadership as provided by the president of the panchayat and his team.
Source: Nayak, Bhargava and Subha 2004 |
In order to ensure the accountability and reduce the corruption in PRIs, the Working
Group on Decentralisation has suggested that an Ombudsman institution at the State/district
level should be constituted. It can conduct investigation and enquiries regarding allegations and
about the wrongdoings. The group suggested that the easy accessibility of information to the
public through publication and display of information should be provided. It has also underlined
the importance of the Citizens Charter for PRIs specifying the services, categories, standards,
periodicity and time limit and so on.
Decentralization and Outcomes
It is found that capacity building of PRIs functionaries is much in an advantageous position.
Representatives have taken many innovative measures in mobilising local resources for delivering
the effective services. As it can be seen from Boxes 2 and 3 that the activities of Belendur and
Kinnigoli GPs are successful in mobilising the resources and promoting the development in their
areas.
The Indian Journal of Political Science
4S8
Box 3 : Experience of Kinnigoli Gram Panchayat in Dakshina Kannada
This panchayat demonstrated that water supply schemes can be maintained by collecting tariffs
from the households. The scheme comprises a bore well as the sources of water that feeds 5,000
liters capacity overhead tank. There are nearly 100 pipe connections to individual houses. The total
cost of the system has been estimated at Rs 7 lakh. The people of this panchayat raised Rs. 70, 000
against the 1 0 per cent as desired by the Sector Reforms Schemes. The panchayat ensured regular
water supply to all the households. The panchayat expected to levy and collect a one time advances
charge of Rs 1000 for each connection but failed to collect the water charges. It was decided to levy
a higher rate on higher incremental consumption. A new tariff formula was devised for the GuttakaadU
scheme based on monthly consumption. The formula is, if a family consuming 3 Kis of water would
pay Rs 50 the same rate is applicable up to 10 KIs. When a family is consuming 15 KIs they would
pay Rs. 100 and for 30 Kis, they would pay Rs. 350. For implementing such tariff system the
panchayat has put water flow meters on each of its pipe connections to the 113 houses. To keep a
proper account of electric power consumed by the submersible pump, panchayats got a separate
electric meter. The system is working very well and the cost collection rate is 100 per cent.
Source; Deccan Herald April 19, 2003
Decentralised governance ensured effective delivery of services like education, health
care and poverty elimination programmes in Karnataka (Aziz et al 2000, Crook and Manor 1 998;
Sivanna 1998:29). The weaker sections’ power over resources has increased through panchayats.
It has been found that many SCs, STs and women beneficiaries under different schemes who
crossed the poverty line, have experienced upward occupational mobility and many of them
started repaying their loan (Aziz et al 2000).
Box 4 : Efficiency in Service Delivery
Did little to directly help pro-poor growth, or equity. Human development and spatial equity indirectly
benefited from funding allocations and development programmes.
Owing to mobilisation of own resources of PRls many development works are less effective,
particularly welfare of downtrodden. Sectors like education and health improved a lot. Attendance
both teachers and pupil increased. Public health facilities increased. About 26% in rural and 46% in
urban case of access to Government health care facilities. Availability of doctors and paramedics in
medical centers, respectively, 74% and 93%. Satisfactions with the behaviour of doctors are found
highest (31 %) in the State compared with other States. Primary schools are accessible within 1 km
for 67% villages and 81% urban households. A relatively higher percentage of households (26%) in
the State viewed their satisfaction with the behaviour of teachers.
State Government ensures that up to 20 per cent of the development expenditure spend for the
upliftment of downtrodden but only 13.75 per cent of amount is being spent. Pro-poor outcomes
were in fact a product of the synergy between local and central factors.
A review conducted by the Government of Karnataka observes that the functioning of
school and health facilities improved considerably under the PRi set-up. There has been significant
improvement in the area of medical and public health facilities and the supply of drugs (Government
Decentralisation for Good Governance and Service Delivery in India 459
of Karnataka 1 989). Another study found that the attendance of doctors and paramedical staff
improved considerably under the constant monitoring of local leaders in many PHCs and hospitals
of Karnataka (Sekher 2001 ). Panchayats played a positive role in improving the quality of health
care services by ensuring regular attendance of health care functionaries as well as by exerting
moral pressure on the staff not to avoid their regular duties. The utilisation of resources which
has been transferred to the PRls is much better than it used to be under line departments.
Developmental works are being executed more speedily and field staffs are better controlled
under PRls (Meenakshisundaram 1 994).
Enabling Environment (State and Society)
The success of decentralisation depends upon the state’s commitment to democratic
decentralisation to translate into four conventional types of measures/actions; (a) enabling, (b)
financing, (c) supporting and (d) supervising. While the first two refer to creating the legal
framework and securing the resources for the local authorities to operate, the second two refer
to local institutional strengthening and related performance monitoring and legality controls.
The state should also accept responsibility for supervising local authorities in ways that
go beyond the traditional administrative (legality) controls and financial auditing. Supervision
must be extended to the specific monitoring of the performance of local authorities In the adoption
and implementation of participatory planning, and it must cover both process and outcomes of
such implementation. Performance monitoring would then enable a system of incentives and
penalties to be established to support the adoption of local-level participatory planning. In West
Bengal and Kerala decmocratic decentralisation is associated with the programme of radical
agrarian reforms as they produced significant benefits for the poor in terms of participation,
growth of agriculture production and human development (Webster, 2000; Crook and Sverrisson,
2001 cited in R.C. Crook, 2003). Kerala is best known for its successful human development
programme, although the link with decentralisation is questioned by some (Bandyophyay, 1997;
Datta, 1997; Heller, 2001 cited in R.C. Crook, 2003). At the same time, the democratic culture
with strong party structure and the presence of strong civil society has also contributed in
challenging the local conservative elites and promoting pro-poor outcomes.
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The Indian Journal of Political Science
Vol. LXVIll, No. 3, July-Sept„ 2007
FUKUYAMA’S END OF HISTORY :
TRIUMPH OF THE LIBERAL STATE
K.P. Mishra
This research paper aims to examine the claim and interpretations of Fukuyama's
thesis of the end of history. The problem of universal history, Hegelian idea of historical
progress and Fukuyama’s conclusions drawn from Alexander Kojeve’s interpretation of
Hegelian philosophy have been evaluated in this paper. Fukuyama's claim that liberal
political systems are embodiment of Hegelian universal homogeneous state, the
consummating point of human progress seems to be a ‘meta narrative'. The paper
concludes that triumph of liberal state is more an event of history rather than the end of
history itself.
Fukuyama’s End of History : Triumph of the Liberal State
Social theory aims to explain realities about social life and it claims validity, sometimes
at the universal level, on the bases of logical consistency and empirical verification. At the same
time counter claims are raised and the validity of a theory is tested. Theory, in both forms,
normative and scientific is likely to have an ideology in disguise. As students of social science
we should try to unravel or ‘deconstruct’ the ideological assumption behind a theory. Francis
Fukuyama, a Professor of Harvard University wrote an article “The End of History?” in 1989,in
which he had a question mark in the title. Later, on he expanded this article and produced a
book, The End of History and the Last Man (no question mark). In this book, Fukuyama
reinterpreted Hegelian concept of history as interpreted by Alexander Kojeve, a Russian emigrant
who delivered lectures on Hegel during 1 930s in France. For Hegel, history is the unilinear way
of progress, which is determined by the struggle of ideas. Each historical stage is a way forward
in the path of progress. Hegel also presumes that the process of development will reach at the
consummating point where the struggle of ideas will cease to exist. Hence, it is a perfect stage
of development without inner contradictions and for Hegel that stage is the end of history, the
end point of progress. Marx also accepts Hegel’s views on history and he also declares that
communism will be the final destiny of historical development.
Fukuyama applies Hegelian concept of the end of history to claim that liberal democracy
is an embodiment of Hegelian stage of the end of ideological evolution. For him, after the collapse
of communism, the ideology of liberal democracy has no rival. Therefore, the struggle of ideas
has ended and history has reached at the final stage in which Anglo-American liberal democratic
states represent Hegel’s universal homogeneous state. The liberal states for Fukuyama provide
perfect freedom for all individuals on an equal basis, Therefore, the ideology of liberal democracy
has universal legitimacy. In support of his thesis Fukuyama concentrates on Kojevian interpretation
of Hegel. The aim of this research paper is to examine the claim of the end of history actualized
in the liberal democracy. In this context, Kojeve’s lectures on Hegelian philosophy, the basis of
The tndiari Journal of Political Science
466
Fukuyama’s thought will also be analysed in the light of the context in which Kojeve focused on
Hegel, is it true that we have reached at the stage of the end of the ideological evolution? How far
Fukuyama is correct in his assertion of universal validity of the liberal democracy after the
collapse of the socialist system in the U.S.S.R.? All these issues will be discussed in this
paper.
While delivering his lectures, Kojeve primarily focused on Hegel’s Phenomenology of
Spirit and neglected Hegel’s other writings. However, the ideological position of Kojeve remained
to be controversial. Allan Bloom claims, “Kojeve is the most thoughtful, the most learned, the
most profound of those Marxists, who, dissatisfied with the thinness of Marx’s account of the
human and metaphysical ground of his teaching turned to Hegel as the truly philosophic source
of that teaching”'' Although it is also doubtful that Kojeve’s interpretation can be regarded as
Marxist. In view of Fukuyama, “If Marx was Hegel’s greatest nineteenth-century interpreter, then
Kojeve was surely his greatest interpreter in the twentieth century”.^ Fukuyama regards Kojeve’s
interpretation as liberal version of Hegelianism, but the prevailing intellectual trends in France do
not approve his contention. Mark Poster has pointed out, “The catastrophic defeat of France in
1 940 has discredited liberal bourgeois intellectual and political traditions, leaving the nation in a
conceptual vaccum.”^ In this context, Kojeve tried to generate a new interest in Hegel, and his
study of Hegel’s Phenomenology “ was an intellectual source for the renewal of Marxism, for
Sartre’s existentialism and perhaps even for the structuralism of the 1 960”.''
From the above-mentioned facts, it can be proved that renewed interest of French
intellectuals during 1930s in Hegel was a result of the collapse of the liberal order. As Poster
remarks, “For Kojeve, Hegel’s Phenomenology of Spirit was the answer to liberal- bourgeois
metaphysics and politics”.® Thus Kojeve’s interpretation of Hegel appears to be far from liberal.
Secondly, Fukuyama in Kojevian style (who neglected Hegel’s other writings) fails to consider
Kojeve’s other writings such as Attempt at a Reasoned History of Pagan Philosophy published
posthumously and articles like “Hegel, Marx and Christianity”. Riley has rightly pointed out that
“an accurate portrait of Kojeve" can be built up” by keeping in view of Kojeve's entire ensemble”.®
The fallacy of Fukuyama lies in his over-dependence on Kojeve’s central work, Introduction to
the Reading of Hegel. Fukuyama submits clearly, “We are interested not in Hegel per se but in
Hegei-as-interpreted by Kojeve, or perhaps a new synthetic philosopher named Hegel - Kojeve.”.^
In sharp contrast to the accepted view of Hegel as an apostle of idealism, Fukuyama
regards Hegel as a philosopher of freedom and in his view Hegel provides us with an understanding
of liberalism that is nobler than that of Hobbes and Locke’’.® He also accepts that liberalism is
interlinked with capitalism, and he considerably supports capitalist economy or market economy
while advocating liberal democracy. But he ignores the fact that in his early writings of Jena
period (1801-7), Hegel criticized the organization of work under capitalism. Jean Hyppolite,
Fukuyama’s End of History : 467
another notable interpreter of Hegel in France and a contemporary of Kojeve, highlighted Hegel's
criticism of market economy as Poster remarks, “Hyppolite, for one, drew the attention of
Marxists to Hegel’s remarkable comprehension of the dehumanizing tendencies of a nascent
industrial and market economy.”® Before writing Phenomenology of Spirit, Hegel studied Adam
Smith’s Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations and he was critical of libera!
economy and bourgeois society. Similarly, Kojeve’s interpretation of Hegel is not consistent
with the principles of liberalism and Poster rightly points out “In Kojeve’s reading of Hegel, the
concepts of liberalism were adamantly denied and the basis for Marx’s concept of class struggle
was laid”.''® Therefore, Fukuyama’s presentation of Hegel as a ‘nobler’ interpretation of liberalism
is not consistent with Kojeve’s interpretation. Actually Kojeve in his lectures on Hegel made an
“attempt to discover Marxist ideas in Hegel.”^ ^
Fukuyama’s thesis of the end of history is based on two types of arguments, one is
empirical and another is philosophical. He maintains that in the contemporary world no alternative
ideology [after the collapse of fascism and communism] of liberalism exists. The nations all over
the world have been gradually making progress towards liberal democratic social order. Fukuyama
has mentioned that in 1 900 there were only 1 3 nations having democratic rule while in 1 990 the
number has increased to 61 in his view, the twin principles of liberty and equality on which
democracy is based have been spreading worldwide. Hence Fukuyama posits that the direction
of human progress is unitary and universal. In this process he accepts the decisive role of
natural science, which succeeded in creating immense wealth. Therefore, the desiring part of
man has been fully satisfied so far. But Fukuyama himself is not satisfied with economic
interpretation of liberalism and he bitterly criticizes ‘economization of our thinking in the past
four hundred years’. Therefore, he turns to Hegel interpreted by Kojeve to find out non-materlalistic
basis of liberalism.
Kojevian reading of Hegel is the philosophical basis on which Fukuyama’s thesis of the
end of history is based. Kojeve discovered the dialectic of master-slave relationships as the key
to understand Hegelian philosophy. For Hegel, man is essentially self-conscious, that is to
exist for itself or being for himself but, to manifest itself In the objective truth a man has to negate
his natural being or biological existence. Therefore, the ‘first men’ {living in the state of nature)
risked their lives in the battle of recognition by others or pure prestige ( the latter was a Kojevian
addition). In this struggle, who risked their lives became the masters and who surrendered
themselves to the desiring part of their soul or desire to live became slaves. The slaves recognized
the former as the master. The latter failed to negate his animal nature or instinct of self-preservation
and he failed to attain freedom. Therefore the basis of class division in the society is one’s
attitude towards death, a purely subjective phenomenon and every human being had freedom of
will to choose between animality or natural being and freedom. Fukuyama concludes that “freedom
The Indian Journal of Political Science
468
begins only where nature encis."''^ It is also clear.that Hegel adheres to the Kantian principle of
moral freedom and his belief that a man has the potentiality of moral progress.
The master being recognized by the slaves were not satisfied because they were recognized
by inferior human beings, not by equals. They used the slave as a tool to satisfy their needs. In
this way, the master failed to attain recognition for which he risked his life. Kojeve has pointed
out in this condition the mastery is ‘tragic end ‘and existential impasse.”''^^ On the other hand,
the slave working for their masters transform the nature, and in this process they transform
themselves. Hence, the slave has the potentiality to change the world. Kojeve lucidly remarks,
“Where there is work there is necessarily change, progress, historical evolution.”^^. Thus, the
slaves are the revolutionary forces and Kojeve’s remarks echo Marxian concept of the proletariat
as the most progressive force who leads the historical process towards a better world.Kojeve
proclaims that ‘ "History is the history of the working slave.”^® On the contrary, the master leads
a life of leisure and in this way he becomes static. The above description of naaster-slave
relationship of Kojeve seems to be nearer to Marxism rather than liberalism.
The slave failed to transcend his biological existence and to realize freedom for fear of the
death. Therefore, he is dissatisfied and his dissatisfaction is creative. Through work itself, the
slave learns to negate his instinct and he develops self-discipline within himself. Fukuyama
points out that the slave is the inventor of technology and in his view, “Modern natural science is
not the invention of idle masters, who have everything they want, but of slaves, who are forced to
work and who do not like their present condition."’'^ But this view is hardly convincing. The toiling
slave cannot invent new tools and he is not in a position to control and own them. The capitalists
or the masters alone can invest huge money in research, and invention of new tools is certainly
profitable for the masters. Marx analyzed the role for machine in capitalism and he concluded
that science is ‘directed against labour.”^® Mechanization of production necessarily leads to
unemployment of the workers. Therefore, the above position of Fukuyama about the slave
appears to be misleading.
Kojeve asserts that through work the slave changes himself and at last he overcomes his
slavery. He points out that here comes the role of ideology without which freedom cannot be
realized. Therefore, the slave “imagines a series of ideologies, by which he seeks to justify
himself his servitude, to reconcile the ideal of liberty with the fact of slavery.”'’®. This explanation
of ideology, to some extent resembles with Marxian concept of ideology as false consciousness,
which conceals the real nature of socio-economic relationship. Ideology, for Kojeve signifies
imaginary relationship between the slave and his material world. Kojeve mentions stoicism as
the first slave ideology, which lays emphasis on natural equality of all men. Secondly, for stoics,
self-control is the highest virtue, which is achieved by the slave in the process of work. Kojeve
refers Christanity as another slave ideology In which all men are equal before God. God is
Fukuyama’s End of History : 469
regarded as the universal Master and ail men are slaves to Him. However, Kojeve is aware that
Christian ideal of equality is related to other world and Christianity “does not take account of
social distinctions, but leaves them intact. 'Equality is transposed into the beyond (men are
bothers “in Jesus Christ.’’)”.^° Kojeve is also critical of bourgeois ideology which is a new slavery
in his view because the master or the capitalist is enslaved to the private property and capital.
Kojeve discovers the dialectic of the master and the slave representing the two divergent
ideas of status-quo and change respectively as a determining factor in Hegelian concept of
historical progress. The master and the slave both are not truly satisfied and free. For Kojeve,
Hegel postulates that equal recognition of all by the equals, that is an ideal of freedom can be
realized in Hegelian universal homogeneous state. Kojeve also makes it clear that such a state
is only possible after the suppression of the opposition between Master and Slave. In the final
struggle the slave suppresses the mastery and becomes citizens or ‘complete, absolutely free
man.’ Kojeve explains simply that in the act of suppression of the mastery, the slave simply kills
the master or the latter dies as a Master. For Hegel, this stage is the end point of history in
which both the masters and the slaves become citizens of the universal homogeneous state. In
this state the desire for recognition is fully satisfied for all.
The most controversial part of Fukuyama's thought is his exposition of the liberal
democracy as an embodiment of Hegelian universal homogeneous state in which all men are
equally recognized. The desire for recognition rooted in human spirit (a thymotic part of human
sou!) and responsible for the beginning of history has been best satisfied in liberal political
systems. But, Fukuyama seems to be ambivalent on the issue of the satisfaction of 'recognition'.
He has expressed his doubt in these words, “Indeed, the modern economic world could only
emerge after desire had been liberated, so to speak, at the expense of thymos. The historical
process that begins with the master’s bloody battle ends in some sense with the modern
bourgeois inhabitant of contemporary liberal democracies, who pursues material gain rather
than glory’’.^^ He also accepts that capitalist economy based on free market is only ‘viable
economic system’ in the world. Therefore, Fukuyama is a penchant supporter of neo-liberalism
and he suggests for the creation of a ‘universal consumer culture’ for the whole world. In this
case, a man is primarily a consumer and he is ‘recognized’ on the basis of consumption. We
are what we consume. Therefore, capitalism has nothing to do with human sprit or thymos, and
the centrality of the capitalist economy is conflicting self-interests of individuals.
Fukuyama affirms that Hegelian principle of recognition provides a more appropriate
explanation of liberal democracy than that of economic one. He also asserts that in the
contemporary scenario the prospect of the development of any rival ideology is very grim and
there is no struggle of ideas, which drives history forward. Hence, the end of the history has
come into reality. Fukuyama also quotes Kojeve who proclaimed that America represented
The Indian Journal of Political Science
470
Marx’s classless society after the Second World War. Fukuyama’s above claim about liberal
democracy appears to be fallacious. Hegel, as Kojve explains, saw that actualization of universal
homogeneous state in Napoleanic empire and for that reason history ended in 1 806. Kojeve
makes it very clear in the following way, ‘This total definitive reality is the Napoleanic Empire; for
Hegel in 1 806 - the year of the composition of the Phenomenology - this empire is a ‘universal
and homogeneous state ‘which’ reunites the whole of humanity . . . and “suppreses" in its womb
ail “specific differences: nations, classes, social groups and families.’’^^
Kojeve further points out that for Hegel, Napoleon himself was not conscious about the
realization of the climax of the universal history. Kojeve submits that the role of philosophy for
Hegel is to ‘understand’ and ‘reveal’ it through discourse. Therefore, Hegel understood and
revealed the end of history realized in Napoleanic Empire. For Hegel, dialectic method reveals
the dialectical movement of the real history. The dialectical process of knowledge ends when it
attains the absolute truth, which reflects in the end of the real history. Similarly, it implies that
Fukuyama’s end of the history is the absolute truth and like Hegel, he can only understand and
reveal the end of history. Kojeve’s position is ambivalent towards the end of history and he
clearly expresses his doubts,” The perfect state . . .? No doubt possible, but one is far from it.”^^
He also admits that Hegel himself was aware of the fact that the state was not actually realized
in all its perfection and he found only germ of this state. Kojeve makes it clear that Hegelian
state “will only be transformed into truth by negative action, which, in destroying the world which
does not correspond to the idea, will create through this very destruction of the world which
conforms to the ideal. It is clear that Kojeve is not certain about the end of history and he finds
its ‘germ’ in 1 806. Fukuyama extends Kojeve’s argument that the ‘germ’ of 1 806 has been fully
realized in liberal democracy. But afterthe catastrophic event of 9/1 1 , the confidence of Fukuyama
has been eroded to some extent. He admits that Islam in radical form “rejects the most basic
principles of modernity”. He also submits that ‘Islamo-fascism’ {Islam in radical variant) constituted
“an ideological challenge that is in some ways more basic then one posed by communism”.
However, Fukuyama contends that ‘Islamo-fascism’is not “equally viable cultural system.”^^
The end of history depicted by Kojeve replapses the ‘last man’ in the animality again.
Fukuyama mentions that “the end of history means also the end of both art and philosophy and
therewith, his own life activity.”^® He further elaborates this gloomy picture in the words of
Kojeve, “what would disappear. . . is not only philosophy or the search for discursive wisdom, but
also that wisdom itself. For in these post-historical animals, there would no longer be any
(discursive) understanding of the world and of self. Here it may be relevant to ponder over the
ideas of Marx regarding the end of philosophy. In German Ideology, Marx dearly argues that the
end of philosophy means the end of speculative philosophy as such and thereafter, positive
science begins. Kojeve appears to accept Marx’s view when he writes, “Hegelianism is alone
471
Fukuyama’s End of History :
translating itself into existence {at least in so far as history is not definitely not completed}
through social and political action properly speaking “revolutionary” or Marxist.”^® Hence it is
clear that Kojeve regards Marxism as the outgrowth of Hegelianism and his views are, to great
extent, consistent with Marxism. The fallacy of Fukuyama is that he applies Kojeve’s interpretation
of Hegel without taking into account of his context and his theoretical position.
Fukuyama contends that liberty and equality are two underlying principles of liberalism
and these have been perfectly realized In the Anglo-American liberal states. But he ignores the
fact that since the advent of liberalism there has been a manifestation of the contradiction
between the twin principles of liberalism: liberty and equality. Due to this contradiction liberalism
has changed its face many times from negative liberalism to neo-liberalism via positive liberalism.
In the political realm, liberalism recognizes men as politically equal by granting equal voting right
and the voter is expected to cast his vote in the common interest. On the other hand in the liberal
capitalist economy an individual pursues his own self-interest in a throat-cutting competition in
the market. Fukuyama in his new book, Trust: The Social Virtues and the Creation of Prosperity
has expressed his concern about radically individualistic culture prevailing in America and he
suggests the recapitulation of civic culture.^^ In the contemporary phase of globalization, the
inequality among the rich and the pooris increasing. Therefore, recognition of all individuals on
equal basis in economy remains a distant goal. Hence, it is difficult to agree with Fukuyama
who proclaims that liberal societies are free from contradictions. It has been proved historically
that the principle of equality cannot be fully actualized in capitalism.
Fukuyama proclaims that liberal democracy is a ‘decent and humane institution, and no
better alternative form of government exists in the contemporary world. On this basis he claims
universal validity of liberal democracy. Bhikhu Parekh (without mentioning the name of Fukuyama)
argues against this claim. He has focused on the interlinking of democracy with liberalism. He
points out that in liberal democracy, democracy as a form of government is defined within the
limits of liberalism and liberalism is the dominant partner. In the west as well as the east,
democracy has a long tradition starting from Athens and Vaishali respectively. Parekh does not
accept that liberal democracy can be culturally neutral and for him “liberalization of democracy
occurred differently in different western societies depending on their history, traditions and social
structure.”^® Therefore, there cannot be one variant of liberal democracy and liberalism and
democracy can be combined differently that is determined by a country’s historical traditions
and cultural values. Parekh suggests that democracy can be made the dominant partner and
that can define liberalism within, its own limits; The reason behind his suggestion is that “the
democratic part of liberal democracy, consisting in such things as free elections, free speech
and the right to equality has proved far more attractive outside the west and is more universalizable
than the liberal component. Fukuyama fails to recognize cultural diversities among nations
The Indian Journal of Political Science
472
and his prescription of liberal democracy for the whole world is ethnocentric. Modernization
implies the Europeanization of the whole world that is not feasible and desirable.
Liberalism can be understood as a theory of modernity and Fukuyama firmly believes
in a single and coherent process of modernization. He prescribes that all nations will go through
the same path of progress. Contrary to this view, post-modernists reject every kind of universalism
and they argue that the whole project of modernity in now exhausted. Lyotard, an illuminating
figure of post- modernity, defines postmodern “ as incredulity towards metanarratives”^^ Belief in
progress through science and achievement of freedom through reason have lost their relevance
in the contemporary world. Therefore, Fukuyama’s thesis of the end of history presented in the
post-modern fashion appears to be a response to post-modernity. He reinforces modernity in
disguise of the end of history but he is not ready to concede that the enlightenment project of
modernity (liberalism is a part of this project) has lost its appeal. Habermas, though critical of
post-modernity submits that modernity is an incomplete project but he attacks on instrumental
and calculative concept of reason on which capitalism is based. In opposition to this concept of
reason, he puts forward the concept of communicative reason, which means free and open
communication and expansion of public sphere. Fukuyama’s insistence on the capitalist
modernization creates barrier for free and open communication between different cultures.
I
Every social theory emerges out of specific socio-economic conditions and a theory can
be properly understood in their context. Kojeve’s lectures on Hegel were a response to prevailing
conditions of France. The theoretical position of Kojeve was controversial. For some scholars,
his interpretation was seen as an attempt to seek Marxist ideas in Hegelianism and for others
the principles laid down in Kojeve lectures were far from Marxism. However, it was beyond doubt
that French intellectuals, turned towards Hegel as a consequence of disillusionment with liberal
principles. Fukuyama applies Kojeve’s concepts like the dialectic of the master and the slave,
desire for recognition and universal homogeneous state to support his thesis of the end of the
history and thus, ignoring the context of Kojeve. The end of history, the presumed end point of
ideological evolution fails to present a utopia of a better and humane world. The kernel of
Fukuyama’s thesis is that there is no alternative to liberal democracy. Hence, liberal democracy
has universal validity and it embodies absolute truth revealed by Fukuyama himself. Here it can
be argued that any philosophy or idea is relative. Post-modernists rightly assert the relativity of
knowledge and rejection of universalism. They also stress the exhaustion of modernity itself.
Therefore Fukuyama’s prescription of modernization for the whole world does not seem to be
convincing. It appears to be a meta-narrative. History as the struggle of ideas will end with the
end of human civilization. Therefore, the end of history may be the beginning of history .
Fukuyama’s End of History :
References :
473
1 . Quoted in Riley Patric (1 982), “Introduction to the Reading of Alexander Kojeve” in Freeman
Micheal and Robertson David ed. The Frontiers of Political Theory ; Essay in a Revitalized
Discipline Heritage Publishers New Delhi, P. 233. >
2. Fukuyama Francis (1 992), The End of History and the Last man, Penguin Books, London,
P.66
3. Poster Mark (1 975), Existential Marxism in Post war France : From Sartre to Althusser,
Princeton University Press, Princeton, P.4
4. Ibid, P.5.
5. Ibid, P.10.
6. Riley Patric (1 982) “Introduction to the Reading of Alexander Kojeve”. Op, cit, PP 234-5
7. Fukuyama Francis (1 992), The End of History and the Last Man, op. cit., P. 145
8. Ibid., P.144
9. Poster Mark (1 975), Existential Marxism in Postwar France : From Sartre to Althusier,
op. cit, P.29.
10. Ibid., P.11
11. Ibid., P.34
12. Fukuyama Francis (1 992). The End of History and the Last Man. Op. cit., PP. 49-50.
13. Ibid, P.152.
14. Riley Patric (1 982), “ Introduction to the Reading of Alexander Kojeve.” Op. cit, P.235,
15. Quoted in Riley Patric (1 982) “Introduction to the Reading of Alexander Kojeve." Op. cit,
P.235.
16. ibid, P.237.
17. Fukuyama Francis. The End of History and the Last Man, op. cit., P.194.
1 8. Marx Karl (1 977), Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1 844. Progress Publishers,
Moscow, P. 191.
1 9. Riley Patric (1 982)’ “Introduction to the Reading of Alexander Kojeve”. of cit., P. 236
The Indian Journal of Political Science
20. ibid., P.236
474
21 . Fukuyama Francis. The End of History and the Last Man. Op. cit, P. 1 89.
22. Quoted in Riley Patric (1 982). “Introduction to the Reading of AIxander Kojeve.” Op. cit. P.
239
23. Ibid., PP 241 -2.
24. Ibid., P.242
25. Fukuyama Francis. "Has History Started Again?”, www.opendemocracy.net/democracy-
fukuyama/debate.jsp
26. Fukuyama Francis, The End of History and the Last Man. Op. cit., P.31 1
27. Ibid., PP.31 1-2
28. Quoted in Riley Patric (1 982). “Introduction to the Reading of Alexander Kojeve.” Op.cit.,
P.242
29. Gray John (1 995), “Fukuyama : the End of History Man”, Prospect Magazine, Issue 3
(Internet version)
30. Parekh Bhikhu (1993), “Cultural Particularity of Liberal Democracy” in Held David ed.
Prospects of Democracy, Cambridge : Polity Press, P.166
31. Ibid., P.172
32. Quoted in Lyon David (2002), Post modernity, Open University press, U.K., P.16
The Indian Journal of Political Science
Vol. LXVIll, No. 3, July-Sept., 2007
RURAL TRANSFORMATION THROUGH BASIC TECHNOLOGIES
Aureliano Fernandes
Though India tried to adapt the project of ‘Modern Science’ from a colonial to a nation
building project, it has essentially been perceived as anti fragment for its failure to find
cheap technology alternatives to people's problems. Industrialisation perpetrated by
science and technology and limited largely to cities, has lead to the prosperity of cities and
impoverishment of villages by way of stagnation, poverty, disease and farmers suicides,
due to multiple failures not only of science but also due to lack of political will and
pandemic corruption in implementation of government schemes. In this dismal scenario,
two villages, Kuttumbakkam, in Tamil Nadu and Hiware Bazar, in Mahrashtra among
others provide outstanding examples of how basic technology, mobilization of limited
village resources, galvanizing people’s cynicism into voluntary action and tremendous
personal sacrifice on the part of panchayat leaders has the key to transforming rural India
and the lives of the poor.
Science as colonial project
India encountered ‘modern science’ as part of the colonial project. It was not that the
Indians were unenlightened people prior to British came, but Eurocentric science which its specific
cultural and geographical context was imposed on subject peoples as ‘modern’. Local knowledge
systems were marginalized, subjected to its hegemonic ascendancy and even derided. Massive
industrialisation was favoured against low technology and cost effective sustainable development.
While modern science had positive benefits in some sectors, it has been responsible for dependency
of the villages on the city, the regions on the capital and the subaltern on the elites.
Western science comprising the Great Surveys (the Geological, the Botanical and the
Trignometric) and Universities [Vishvanathan 1998] was exclusivist, serving the British politico-
administrative complex and largely unconcerned with improving the lives of ordinary Indians.
Science as Nationalist project
Science was adopted as part of the nationalist or nation building project in the post colonial
period. Though scientism had assumed autonomy from the colonial establishment with setting up
of the India Association for the Cultivation of Science in 1900, it was Har Dayal who trumped
science over religion, a sentiment later echoed by Nehru, where he said ‘dams and laboratories
became the temples of modern India’ [Vishvanathan 1 998].
The entire project of science, given the economic situation in India, was state centric and
state controlled from setting up of laboratories and institutions, to funding university research, to
defining the areas of development. Jawaharlal Nehru laid great emphasis on development of
autonomous, self reliant and high quality science and technology structures, dedicated to both
teaching and theoretical and applied research. [ Anonymous 2005]. These institutions were tied to
the West either for funding, affiliation orcollaboration. They followed the trends and discourses set
by the West. They were busy cloning, adapting and diffusing technologies that were produced in
the West in a bid to leap frog the dismally low levels of development by pushing for Manhattan
project-type enterprises in nuclear energy, electronics, pharmaceutical or space research.
[Goidemberg 1 998]. Development was thought to coincide with possession of nuclear weapons or
The Indian Journal of Political Science 476
capability to launch satellites and such programmes would convert developing countries into 20th
century industrialized states, [ibid].
Tasks set out for science and technology, post independence
Social Justice was one of the founding pillars of the republic. As Gandhi pointed out, true
freedom meant wiping out unemployment, bridging the gulf between the rich and the poor, banishing
communal strife and ensuring that million of Indians participated in nation building. [Rao 2005]. The
Preamble laid out the road map for the political leadership on behalf of the people -to secure to
ourselves justice social, political economic and equality of status and opportunity. The right to
adequate means of livelihood and ownership and control of natural resources (Art 39), free and
compulsory education upto the age of 1 4 (Art 45), raising nutrition levels and public health (Art 47),
orgaising agriculture and animal husbandry on modern scientific lin.es (Art 48) were enshrined in
the Constitution.
The ‘gigantic’ responsibility set out for science in post independence was to turn a poor
country, devastated by natural calamities, plagued by disease and man made disasters into a
modern developed nation. Science had to replicate the wonders it had effected in the developed
worid -improve life expectancy, increase agricultural output, improve production and communications.
Report Card of Science and Technology
India has made tremendous progress in science and technology (S&T), considering the
benefits that have accrued to society, especially with indigenously developed technologies. But
despite our claims of being a scientific powerhouse, a leading knowledge centre and having the
world's fourth largest workforce, there is growing disquiet over the loss of energy, creativity and
quality of our scientific institutions. Except for the centres of excellence, given the size of the
country, they appears as islands surrounded by a sea of mediocrity. [ Anonymous 2005].
The spectacular failures of the Defence Research and Development Organisation, the virtual
collapse of the agricultural universities and the Krishi Vigyan Kendras, the decline of science
departments in universities and repeated inability of meteorology departments to predict weather
[ibid] which has wreaked periodic havoc as instances where the S&T establishment has let us
down.
Science as Bureaucratised Project
Just as government is paralysed by bureaucratic delivery of development and services, so
also is the project of science. Science has become a bureaucratised grid of laboratories fumbling
over import substitution. Homi Babha had opined that creation of mammoth bureaucracies had
emptied the universities of outstanding talent who could have served as seeds of creative dissent.
[Vishwanathan1998]
With bureacratisation science lost its democratic domain. Science returned to the democratic
domain with the great debates and protests on S&T coming not from academics but from political
movements such as Chipko, Bhopal Gas disaster and agitations against dams. A few scientists
477
Rural Transformation through basic Technologies
were however also involved [ibid 1998].
In the second phase of post colonial era, where neo colonialism parades as Globalisation
and Liberalisation, S&T have to undergo radical transformation. Science still continues to be
centralized and state centric, despite proliferation of the internet and other technologies. Knowledge
and its validity is still controlled and censored by new regimes. Any invention whether it is fuel or
new modes of transport has to be officially stamped with the state’s authorization.^
Alternatives, such as bio fuels, ethanol produced from sugarcane molasses as widely used
in Brazil and which has replaced gasoline [Goldemberg 1 998] are seen with suspicion. The reason —
they challenge the state’s political as well as the S&T establishment which rarely come up with
cheap alternatives to solve people’s problems and want to pattern third world development on the
industrialized countries’ model. The patent regime further, strengthens state control, along with
that of the developed world over the developing..
Science as anti fragment
Science has served ‘modem India’, represented by its elites. Nehruvian formulation of science
in retrospect, by and large neglected the voiceless and powerless rural masses. Of course this is
not only a failure of science and technology, since it is combined with lack of political will, poor
design of schemes by the policy think tanks, and rabid corruption in implementation of schemes.
Pre Mughals, village prosperity enabled people to generously contribute grains to the kings.
Villages had their own self governing systems, collected local taxes, according to administrative
needs, and managed their own natural resources very efficiently through traditional water harvesting,
soil and bio diversity conservation methods. Alongside abundant natural resources, which they
harvested wisely and sustainably, they also developed numerous local technologies using local
wisdom, knowleged, skills and resources to process their food, made their own cotton and silk
clothing, besides other things. Thus was thriving a mini village economy with a variety of local
industries employing the village population. [Rangasamy2005].
Industrialisation not only centralized technologies (hence industries) but moredevastatingly,
shattered the self confidence of villagers and built a sense of self inadequacy and disempowerment.
Secondly, It displaced huge populations, employed In labour intensive village industries. Other ill
effects included urbanization and its consequences, pollution, energy and resource depletion.
That “industrialization means sophistication, means better economic growth, means progress of
society was indoctrinated to students in schools and colleges and has came to be internalized by
society. Industrialization means stagnation [ibid] of the fragment.
in the globalized scenario and about a decade preceding it, destruction of agriculture,
unemployment, rise in illicit liquor brewing, drunkenness, violence, farmers suicides and rural
waste typify India. Alongside the American style mall and cyber cities culture brimming with
wealth, 36 percent of the population still clings for dear life below the poverty tine. 2 million children
die each year before the are one year old and India has a malnourishment rate nearly twice the
levels reported in sub Saharan Africa. [Rao 2005]
478
The Indian Journal of Political Science
Traiisforming India through basic science and technology
fn such a dismal scenario, dramatic failures overshadow the success of science. Post
Independence, the miracle of science, which was to deliver India from poverty and other ills, to a
developed country, has moderately succeeded. But there appears to be much hope from the
fragment. Two villages, one Kuttambakam in Tamil Nadu and another Hiware Bazar in Maharashtra,
among others, have emerged as models of rural transformation. Basic science and technology
coupled with inspiring and dedicated leadership has galvanized people’s participation into
transforming the lives of the villagers, far from the state centric establishments of science and the
heavy hand of bureaucracy, which for decades has been doling out largesse of state through
multiple schemes, without much success.
Kuthambakkam Panchayat
Elango Rangasamy is the village panchayat president of Kuthambakkam.^ Having BSc in
chemical engineering from the elite IIT (Chennai), he gave up a lucrative job with Oil India in Orissa
and joined the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, Chennai so that he could travel daily
to his village to rid it of abject poverty, drunkenness, violence against women and caste disharmony
between majority dalits and Vanniars. He ensured that his wife Sumathy did her masters in
chemistry and got a job thus allowing him to resign his and return to his village.
Elango, himself a Dalit, initiated a number of projects towards making the village self sufficient
-a thoor dhal processing unit,^ a diary project,"* a soap making unit,® a low cost dual use toilet,®
a bakery project, ^groundnut oil production where simple machines have been fabricated for
dehusking and the shells have been used to produce electricity for the soap making unit.® Elango
has developed a low cost brick making unit which employs about 60 villagers, where low cost
bricks produced from here, are used to build houses for about Rs 45000. Fifty percent of the price
of the brick goes to the labourers as wages. These bricks have also gone towards making of
Samathuvapurams (Harmony Estates) or twin houses with a common wall, one inhabited by a
Dalit and the other by a Brahmin. Such Samathuvapurams are now officially funded by the government
to promote communal harmony and exist in many villages in Tamil Nadu.
Elango is a messianic Gandhi for his village. His moment of truth came when he was
suspended for cutting costs and building the village storm drain, from the waste of a granite
factory, incurring a cost of Rs 4 lakh, as opposed to the Rs 15 lakh sanctioned. He was
violated state’s ‘prescribed norms’ and deprived the transporters their ferrying opportunity and
contractors their civil works. Vested interested worked overtime and Elango was suspended
from office under Section 205 of the Tamil Nadu Panchayat Act [TNPA]. He was devastated.
Then, Sumathy who was living in Chennai, visited Kuthambakkam and gave him a Tamil
version of Gandhi’s ‘My experiments with Truth’. The book gave him grit to request the Secretary
to the Government to summon the village assembly and ascertain the charges before villagers.
On Jan 10, 1 999, 1300 people ‘acquitted’ Elango after the day long trial, as the order revoking
his suspension came before nightfall. " I understood Gandhi that day," he says. “First be
479
Rural Transformation through basic Technologies
truthful, then be fearless.” [Goodnews 2005]
Elango admits the criticality of the 73rd Constitutional Amendment and his pledge to create
village level republics restoring the self sufficiency of the villages, which had been devastated by
industrialisation and made the villagers consumers instead of producers. All his experiments with
science are headed in the direction of value addition to products, employment to villages to restore
their seif confidence and mal^e each village self sufficient.^ His economics for village clusters has
been inspired by JC KumarajDpa.
Elango has an appropriate technology development center, part of which is funded by
ONGC, Association for India Development, USA, and Swiss Agency for Development and
Cooperation (SDC). The Panchayat Academy founded by Elango now trains sarpanchas and
members of panchayats from a number of villages in Tamil Nadu towards the road of self sufficiency.
He aims to touch 200 villages across India with this academy. In Elango’s Kuthambakkam, basic
science has been messianic, ensuring livelihood, employment and qualitative change in the lives
of villagers as far as education, health and hygiene and infrastructure is concerned. This, the
mainstream, state centric and centrally controlled bureaucratized science could not deliver.
Hi ware Bazar
Four years before the state directed 73rd Amendment centralized initiatives of decentralization
and participatory government were launched, Hiware Bazar showed that “Hamare gaon me hamar
raj" (in our villages only we will rule) can work. The initiative came from village youth who approached
Popatrao Pawar, to contest elections.^® He was elected sarpanch of Hiware Bazar in 1989, a
drought prone district of Ahmednagar, Maharashtra.
in the summer months, there was little water to drink and none for agriculture. The village
common lands were overgrazed as people tried to supplement their agricultural incomes by investing
in cattle and themselves suffering the drought. This drought situation had its roots in the 1972
drought from which people never recovered. [Anand undated]. It was followed by migration, barren
fields, unemployment, wife beating, rampant alcoholism and a murder of a fellow villager in 1 982.
From the state’s perception the civil service saw Hiware Bazar as a punishment posting, even
police ensured that they were well armed before visiting the village. Local bootleggers had a
steady market In the unemployed youth.
Pawar’s initial strategy of unilaterally planting imli trees in the village ended with people
ransacking the trees. He then contemplated a participatory strategy involving villagers in the selection
and execution of programmes. He began by getting citizens to chalk out a priority list of urgent
needs.'*'’
All projects undertaken had following characteristic (i) shramdaan (voluntary labour) (ii)
strong community rules that governed various facets of village life and for which they had to
sacrifice personally, (iii) a combination of community initiatives and government schemes to
transform the institution of panchayat and the face of the village.
480
The Indian Joyrnal of Polltica! Science
Basic science and ecology approaches such as banning unlimited grazing on community
landsjedtoregenerationotgrassiandsjnfact, they latersoidfodderto neighbouring
feiling was banned and event citizens became their custodian. Aforestat, on was undertaken with
10 lakhtrees being pianted through voluntary labour. A water harvesting project was initiated with
govemmentheip.TheaquiferwassufficientViechargedtoprovidewaterfor farms Private owners
then gave part of their iand for the water harvesting projects, to benefit their agriculturai production
on the remaining iand. Water harvesting plans were put in place. A database of alf government
yojanas (schemes) in agriculture and water development programmes was created. Using da^
science, a total of 201 crass bred cows and buffaloes, families were able to increase their monthly
income to Rs 30,000 per month on increased yields of milk alone."' ^
The community put a ban on water intensive crops, bore wells for their destructive potential
and gobar was generally used as fertilizer. The results were fascinating. There was tremendous
improvement in thequality of life in this village, as the increased incomes of farmers were ploughed
back into social sector. A middle school section was added to the primary school. Panchayat
spent on uniforms and books of students. Hygiene and sanitation was emphasized with money
from a government scheme was utilized to build 1 700 toilets at the cost of Rs 3500 each.
The village received the AdarshGaon (ideal village)award from Government of Maharashtra
in1 993. Hiware Bazar adopted the four tenets of its more illustrious neighbour, Raiegao Siddhi,
where the charismatic Anna Hazare had suggested charabandi (ban on grazing), nashabandhi
(ban on alcohol), nassbandhi (family planning) and katbandhi (ban on deforestation). Besides just
benefits for villagers, this participatory initiative had other uncalculated consequences. Access to
the district and government machinery became easier. Bureaucratic machinery was greatly
increased as a consequence of the success story of Hiware Bazar. Most officials were extremely
cooperative and eagerto enhance the successes of their efforts. [Anand; undated]. The status of
women and backward classes too has improved with women planning and implementing a number
of programmes and indulging in decision making through their mahila mandais.
This participatory initiative is not without its shortcomings. For instance, the shortage of
labour and the relative abundance of land has not propelled the community into implementing
significant land reform. The few large holdings that exist are not challenged sufficiently. Instead
landowners rent out 2 -3 acres plots to landless families which till and farm the land, and pay a
rent in return. However the transformation that has been effected in the lifestyles of anti social
elements who are today farming and selling milk instead of creating trouble is something worth
amazing since the best of state action in reforming such elements was to say the least modest.
Conclusion
Indian Science is some sense has become an extension of the colonial project -statist,
centralized, with its own rubrics and in some sense apathetic to the democratic ethos set out in
the national movement. It has a hegemonic preponderance and derides the traditional, self-sustaining
knowledge systems of the rural and subaltern. In doing so it excludes the empowerment of the
Ryral Transformation through basic Technologies 481
rural masses. Where mainstream science and establishment has failed, the rural messiahs, with
high levels of commitment and personal sacrifice are stepping in to make a qualitative difference to
the life of their peoples with basic and sustainable science and technologies, within the context of
the support provided by policy initiatives such as the 73rd Amendment. Though replication of these
success stories seems to be difficult even in neighbouring districts such human endeavours
provide hope, where science and technology has in some way rendered them hopeless. This
appears to be the Gandhian way forward for the transformation of rural India, with full powers to
panchayats and moreso to the people of India, to determine their own destinies.
Endnotes
1 . The shocking story of rural lad from Tamil Nadu who is supposed to have “invented” bio
fuel and who was given publicity by the media, is a case in point. He had to travel to
New Delhi (the centre), to “prove” his invention and when he returned his entire lab was
burnt.
2. Kuthambakkam with a population of 5000, in 1 040 households is spread over 70 hamlets,
over an area of 36 sqkms, about 40 kms from Chennai.
3. Which processes and sells dhal in Kuthambakkam and neighbouring villages at cheaper
prices and provides employment to rural women;
4. Where excess milk available in Kuthambakkam and nearby villages is processed into
marketable milk products;
5. Which uses a old bullock cart wheel fitted with bearings and pulleys which mixes soap
ingredients and makes soap;
6. Which is pre fabricated and can be used for bath as weil;
7. Where bread, buns, biscuits for the consumption of the village are produced;
8. Interview with Mr. Elango Rangasamy, while the author was on a study trip to
Kuthambakkam. 1 0 July 2005.
9. He found that the villagers consumed Rs 60 lakh worth of goods and services per month
and that Rs 50 lakh worth of this produce could be done in the village level itself. About
seven to eight villages form a free trade zone. They identify and produce goods and
services without overlap and consume each other’s produce. Of course he has identified
the government schemes and seen that he encouraged villagers to avail of these to
benefit the village.
1 0. Popatrao Pawar had MCom degree and was working for an airline company in Pune.
1 1 . The priority areas listed out were employment, health and education among others.
12. Interview with Mr. Popatrao Pawar, while the author was on a study trip to Hiware
Bazaar. 1 9 August 2005.
The Indian Journal of Political Science
482
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The Indian Journal of Political Science
Vol. LXVIll, No. 3, Juiy-Sept., 2007
POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY OF HEGEL AND SRI AUROBINDO :
A COMPARfSON
Debidatta Aurobtnda Mahapatra
The paper makes an attempt to study the political philosophy of Hegel and Sri Aurobindo
in a comparative framework. Some aspects of the political ideas of Hegel, deeply
influenced by the Greek tradition and contemporary developments such as German
enlightenment and French Revolution, find similarity with that of Sri Aurobindo, who
derived richly from Indian tradition. The theory of evolution highly influenced the ideas
of both the thinkers, though both used the theory to different ends. While Hegel believed
that the development of human society culminates with the arrival of state on the scene,
Sri Aurobindo further extended the theory and argued that only with the achievement of
ideal human unity the problems confronting human society can be resolved.
Though Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel and Sri Aurobindo, belong to different periods of
history, striking similarities are found in their thought. Both the thinkers believed in the evolution
of state at certain stage of history. However, while Hegel’s analysis of his contemporary civil
society led him to search for an alternative system which he found in the concept of state, Sri
Aurobindo’s analysis led him to find the concept of ideal human unity, interestingly, though
both the thinkers agree on the evolutionary principle in the development of human society,
they widely differed regarding the culmination of this evolutionary process.
While for Hegel the state is the highest embodiment of reason on earth, for Sri Aurobindo
it is a mechanism that fulfills some basic needs of human life. While for the former state is an
end in itself, for the latter it is a means to ideal human unity. Notwithstanding dissimilarities,
however, there are convergences in their approaches as far as they investigate the concept
from an evolutionary perspective, though the crucial difference is that while Hegel’s idea of
evolution stops at the appearance of state, Sri Aurobindo’s concept of evolution goes further.
Both the thinkers believed in the historical necessity for the rising of state in human society,
but differed on the modalities of the course of historical development and its culmination. As
profound thinkers as they are and having contributions to diverse fields of learning such as
history, metaphysics, psychology, culture, etc. the current paper would confine its scope In
analyzing some aspects of the political philosophy of Hegel and Sri Aurobindo and attempt a
comparison.
The analysis in the paper would have the following course. The first section would deal
with the background of Hegel and his concepts of civil society and state and their evolution.
The second section would focus on Sri Aurobindo’s concept of state and idea! human unity.
The third section makes a comparison between the political ideas of both the thinkers. The
final section summarizes main conclusions of the paper.
The Indian Journal of Political Science
484
li
Like every political philosopher Hegel (1770-1831) was the product of his time. The
fragmentation of German empire, the defeat of Germany by France, prevailing corruption and
degradation in his contemporary society, the French Revolution of 1 789, the industrial revolution
in England, and German enlightenment profoundly shaped the ideas of Hegel. Further, his
deep understanding of Greek civilization made Hegel a passionate lover of Greek success in
art, culture and politics. While the Greek society produced an ethical variety with its universal
character, Hegel argues, the subsequent periods in history lacked that temperament. Similarly
in his studies of religion, Hegel was a passionate lover of Christianism and a critic of Judaism.
His main scorn against Judaism was that it separated man from god, particular from universal;
making the universal totally alien to particular^ and hence, forfeiting the individual to develop
a universal outlook. This distinction has been discussed in detail in later pages. As we shall
see, some of the major concerns that engaged Hegel, during his academic career at Jena and
afterwards, were reunification of Germany, addressing the problems of poverty and alienation
which are byproducts of bourgeois society, and providing order and harmony in a rather chaotic
society.
Three major influences on Hegel include: Schiller’s philosophy of dichotomy, the French
Revolution that championed human freedom, and James Steuart’s theory of historical
development.^ From Schiller, Hegel learnt to appreciate Greek universalism, and learnt how
the universalism degraded into particularism^ in later periods, thus resulting in disorder and
deformities*. But while Schiller advocated for aesthetic education for the revival of universal
spirit in the contemporary society, Hegel developed the concept of state which, for him, can
bring ultimate unity and harmony. Because, Hegel argues, state is the highest embodiment of
reason on earth and the historic progression from the Greek civilization to the current phase of
turmoil is already pre-ordained in the movement of spirit.'^ In the coming of the state, individual
finds his supreme realization as it represents highest ethical order. From French Revolution
and its aftermath development, Hegel learntthat absolute freedom is neither good for individual
nor for society. The revolution which saw the overthrow of monarchy, within a very short span
of time, again witnessed dictatorship at the hands of Napoleon. Hegel expressed pessimism
as unregulated, unrestricted freedom which results In extreme individualism of laissez faire
variety. From Steuart, Hegel learnt that the evolution of human history can be studied by
investigating into its economic development through various phases. Hence, along with Steuart,
Hegel believed that the growth of human society from feudalism to bourgeoisie society was a
rational development of economic potentialities of human society. It was a historical necessity.
Throughout his philosophical writings, especially in Philosophy of Right, in which Hegel
Political Philosophy of Hegel and Sri Aurobindo 485
dwelt at length about the concept of state, one finds the persistent duel between the concepts
of particularism and universalism. The movement of human society, for Hegel, is from
particularism to universalism. While family, the basic unit of society, represents particularism,
state represents universalism, and civil society^ (the domain of interplay of economic forces)
mediates between the two not as a kind of arbiter, but as a transition. Hegel found the trace of
universal ethical life in Greek society but it was in a rudimentary scale, hence it had to pass
through the medieval ages to reach the present phase of turmoil in which the antagonism
between partcuiarism and universalism has reached its pinnacle. Somewhat akin to Rousseau®,
Hegel argues that the evolution of private property and technology brought huge disparities
among individuals in a civil society.
Hegel, in his analysis, stresses both positive and negative aspects of civil society.
From positive point of view, civil society and its mechanisms such as corporations, guilds,
legal system, etc. brings individuals to a wider, universal platform. It provides a kind of interface
among various individual interests from a broader perspective. However, the mechanisms are
so devised not to promote common good, but basically to protect individual interests. The
negative aspects of civil society outnumber its positive aspects. First, it brings poverty to a
large scale. Due to invention of technology and money economy the disparity between poor
and rich grows. Second, and subsequently, it brings alienation. The labourer is alienated from
his product and totally depends on the vagaries of market for subsistence (Karl Marx further
carried the Hegelian concept of alienation in his own way). Though there are various mechanisms
devised by civil society, which Hegel witnessed in England, such as charity, public service
and justice system, none of these has been successful to address poverty and alienation of
the labourers, For Hegel, it is the state which can bring ultimate harmony and unity among
individuals in society. Civil society is deficient in this respect as it is mechanic and promotes
class antagonism by making rich richer and poor poorer; after all it is based on economic
equations prevalent and suitable to market.
State, for Hegel, is the highest achievement of human civilization. It is the highest
embodiment of spirit. In the movement from particularism to universalism, the human-society
moves in a dialectic fashion, which Hegel calls a historic necessity. The human intellect,
which is rational in character, finds its culmination in the manifestation of state, which is
absolute, ethical and universal. In this context, Hegel criticizes the Kantian concept of
transcendental idealism which says that the absolute or the universal is beyond the
comprehension of human reasoning. For Hegel, it is neither possible nor desirable to create
an impenetrable wall between the individual and the universal, because in the movement of
reason, in which reason unfolds itself In dialectic method, state is its highest embodiment. In
The Indian Journal of Political Science
486
this Hegelian style, the movement from particular to universal can be seen manifested in the
movement from family to civil society and thence forward to state. For Hegel, reason or will is
eternal, universal, self-conscious and self-determining.^
In the family the individual is integrated with the values upheld by the group, though it
retains the individual character. The members of family identify with each other but the
identification stops there; it does not go beyond that. But, when the interests and needs of
family surpasses and enters into the realms of civil society, the individual and group interests
are more adequately fulfilled in a larger domain. Here, the individual identifies himself with a
class, not with the whole community. Civil society can at most have a moral character, but not
ethical, universal character. It is the state which is the ultimate manifestation of spirit. Applying
Hegelian dialectic, family can be construed as thesis, civil society as anti-thesis and the state
as synthesis. Interestingly, the Hegelian synthesis does not negate, or discard, the positive ^
aspects of both thesis and anti-thesis. Both are sublated in the broader, totalistic and organic
concept of state. For Hegel, state is like an organism, having its own personality. It is neither
mechanic, nor human artifice, nor created by fortuitous will of god.® It is the highest manifestation
of spirit, hence it is rational. Therefore the famous Hegelian rhetoric: real is rational and
rational is real.
As state represents the highest ethical order, obedience to it must be the highest duty
of individuals. Here Hegel introduces the concept of citizen. An individual can be a citizen
when he obeys the state. By obeying the state, individual obeys the rational element in him,
because state alone represents the highest rationality. Hence, for Hegel the law abiding
citizen of the state can enjoy liberty to the fullest extent because it is only in the state that
highest social order is possible and common good can be achieved. Therefore, Hegel’s citizen
is not only the right-demanding citizen of John Locke® but also law abiding citizen. Hence,
while Locke allows revolution as a deterrent to state absolutism, Hegel rules out any such
option as the state itself represents highest ethical order.
For Hegel unrestrained freedom is no freedom at all. In the civil society individual is like
“the wild animal running hither and thither blindly and primitively".^® Because as we see in
Hegelian analysis, civil society, in which individual enjoyed unregulated freedom, leads to
disorder and alienation, it is only in state that citizens subscribe to common good. Hegel
disagrees with iaissez faire economists such as Adam Smith who believes that the ‘invisible
hand of market’ would bring harmony in society without any state intervention. For Hegel,
society, or more appropriately the civil society itself is a battleground of interests. However,
Hegel admits right to property in his scheme of things because property provides personality
Political Philosophy of Hegel and Sri Aurobindo 487
to individual. But the individual character finds its zenith under the regulation of state.
For Hegel, the three main pillars of the state are the following: monarchy, bureaucracy
and assembly of estates. It is the monarchy, or rather hereditary monarchy that brings overall
unity in the state. The nionarch is identified with the state, and by obeying the state the
individual would obey the monarch, who symbolizes the whole community. The politically
neutral bureaucracy, who inculcates the universal ethical principle, executes the regulations
in an efficient and effective manner. The assembly of estates represents the interests of
monarchy, bureaucracy and various social classes. Hegel’s monarch may be equated with
the modern heads of state. His concept of bureaucracy further elaborated later by Max Weber,
can be equated to modern civil services. His assembly of estates can be equated with modern
national assemblies.
Hegel’s theory of state has been criticized on many grounds. His absolutist concept of
state was allegedly used by the Fascist regime of Germany to draw legitimacy.'’ ’’ Marx
criticized Hegel’s concept of dialectic idealism and state. For Marx, state is not the highest
embodiment of reason; rather it is an executive committee of bourgeoisie to exploit the
proletariat. The post-modern thinkers such as Derrida criticized Hegelian theory as teleology.**^
But it would not be possible to ignore the contribution of Hegel to political philosophy. His
method of dialectic, concept of state, civil society, alienation bore far reaching implications on
later developments in political theory as well as practice.
ill
Sri Aurobindo (1 872-1 950), the twentieth century thinker, grew up in the background of
Indian freedom struggle against British colonialism. Hence, expectedly his idea of state,
scattered over his numerous writings but especially in the The ideal Human Unity, was moulded
by contemporary developments. The subjugation of the Indian subcontinent under the foreign
domination motivated him to become members of secret societies such as Indian Majlis and
Lotus and Dagger during his Cambridge days, and later to advocate extremist methods including
violence to free India. Western liberal tradition in Sri Aurobindo was highly suffused with Indian
spiritualism.
Sri Aurobindo, like Hegel, believed in the evolution of human society. While Darwin’s
theory of evolution studied the evolution of human being from the biological perspective, Sri
Aurobindo almost applied this theory though from a different angle. In the evolutionary process,
for Sri Aurobindo, human society appeared in a later stage, the first stage being the physical
world of matter and the second stage being life. The manifestation of consciousness is the
highest manifestation so far of this evolutionary progression. Only the human being, the
The Indian Journal of Political Science
possessor of consciousness, emerged on the ground as the basic unity of society.
488
Sri Aurobindo makes a distinction between the concepts of state and nation. For him,
the state represents the transition of society fronri the infrarationai organic stage to the rational
stage. It attempts to bring about an organic unity of the aggregate people’s political, social
and economic life through centralized administration. The need for compactness, single-
mindedness and uniformity to promote security and strengthen national defence is sought to
be fulfilled by the state-idea. For Sri Aurobindo, “the state has been most successful and
efficient means of unification and has been best able to meet the various needs which the
progressive aggregate life of societies has created for itself and is still creating The state
is only an outward form, a convenient machinery to enforce unity and uniformity. But on the
other hand, it is the nation which is the living unity of the aspirations and powers of its peoples.
A common race-origin, a common language, a common culture and geographical unity may
be its elements but, for Sri Aurobindo, it is basically a psychological unit with a soul of Its
own. Man by nature seeks the association of his fellow beings. The social life of individuals
begins within the family. After the family comes, in the evolutionary process, the tribe, then
the clan, the community and then the nation. But Sri Aurobindo believes that the nation idea
is not the terminus of the march of the human civilization because there is a drive in Nature
towards larger agglomerations and this drive can lead to the final establishment of the largest
of all and the ultimate union of the world’s people.''^
Though the concept of nationalism emerged in the 18th century, the concept did not
have wider significance in the initial period. It did not emerge as an evolutionary consciousness
but from some kind of expediency, from a geographical and historical necessity, in the beginning,
it emerged as a secondary or even tertiary necessity which resulted not from anything inherent
in the vital nature of human society but from circumstances.^^ However, the feeling of being in
nation- this psychological feeling-brings unity among people of different shades of opinion. It
makes the principle of unity in diversity possible. The concept of the nation-state has the
following utilities. First, it brings the sense of unity among people. Second, it helps in developing
a collective consciousness leading to collective goals in national affairs. Third, it bears in itself
the seed towards a larger formation, towards a greater unity of human beings across national
divides.
The characteristic feature in Sri Aurobindo’s concept of nationalism is that he makes a
distinction between ‘national ego’ and ‘nation-soul’. While national ego, i.e. a vague sense of
group subjectivity, is reflected in national idiosyncrasies, habits, prejudices and marked mental
tendencies, nation-soul embodies a deeper awareness of group subjectivity."*® Hence, while
national ego is a barrier towards larger unity of mankind, nation-soul has in itself a tendency
Political Philosophy of Hegel and Sri Aurobindo 489
towards larger agglomerations of mankind. There are two aspects of national ego. It may be
aggressive or expansive and defensive. Sri Aurobindo cites German imperialism as the case
of aggressive aspect of national ego and British imperialism as the case of defensive aspect of
national ego.''^ Wherever there is domination of national ego, there is a tendency in part of
national leaders to profess supremacy of their nation and to proclaim their right to expand into
other territories, thus leading to imperialism. Whether it is British or French or German
imperialism, an inherent urge has become prominent in part of those nations to assert supremacy
and domination over other nations and cultures.
It is interesting to note here many Western scholars followed the line advocated by Sri
Aurobindo. Though Sri Aurobindo advocated for moderation of the concept of nationalism on
the eve of the first World War, the same line of argument was followed by some Western
scholars on the eve of the second world war. For instance, Clarence Streit’s book Union Now
and W. B. Curry’s book The Case for Federal Union were full of pleas for moderation of the
concept of aggressive nationalism, especially practised in Germany under the leadership of
Hitler. Curry appealed nations to come out of their narrow grooves to make the idea of federal
union possible. For the survival of the civilization, Curry argued, “the groups which we call
nations should become like other groups, less fierce, less exclusive, less aggressive, less
dominating, admitting allegiance to, and submitting to some measure of control by the
community consisting of mankind as a whole.”''®
For Sri Aurobindo, nationalism is evolutionary in nature and its evolution towards a
higher form of synthesis of mankind is mandated in its very nature. There is always an urge in
nation idea even in a way to ‘destroy it’ in the larger synthesis of mankind. In the growth of
human civilization nationalism is an intermediary stage towards higher forms of union,
transcending narrow national boundaries. The nation idea finds its consummation in the
development of ideal human unity. But, Sri Aurobindo makes it clear that the nation idea must
be developed to its full before any possibility of formation of world union arises. Sri Aurobindo
in his book. The ideal of Human Unity explicates the possibility of emergence of some kind of
union. For him, the exact name does not matter, whether it be world union or federation or
state, what matters is the highest possible achievement of human civilization in which different
nations and different cultures live in peace and harmony, as in one family.
Hence, Sri Aurobindo’s vision of Indian nationalism and spiritualism has not been confined
to narrow revivalism, as some Western scholars would have us believe. Sri .Aurobindo’s
nationalism is neither aggressive nor expansionist as he has never advocated for the practice
of these kinds of negative nationalism as one finds in Nazi variety of nationalism. Rather Sri
Aurobindo’s nationalism is predicated on the subtle form of ideal human unity. For him nation-
The Indian Journal of Political Science
490
State system is not the zenith of the formations of human civilization, rather it is an intermediary
phase for the ultimate ideal human unity. Even when he demanded complete independence
for India and for the achievement of that purpose when he advocated for spiritual nationalism,
having four-fold dimensions: swadeshi, swaraj, boycott and national education, it was in no
sense aggressive in Western sense, rather it could be considered as a high-pitch call for
arousal of national consciousness for India’s freedom. And India's freedom was deemed
necessary, as Sri Aurobindo envisaged, because India with her spiritual crown could serve a
beacon light to other nations.
Sri Aurobindo developed the idea of religion of humanity to make his scheme of ideal
human unity possible. The underlying basis of this religion is not any kind of dogma or exclusivist
tenets or ideas, rather three supreme values of liberty, equality and fraternity. This supreme
social trinity or ‘three godheads of soul’ can provide a stable basis for an emerging world order
based on peace and harmony. But these three supreme values cannot develop and transform
the world until the mankind rises to the occasion and cultivate them in habit, thinking and
ways of life. Sri Aurobindo believes none of these values has realty been won in spite of all the
progress that has been achieved. He writes: “The liberty that has been so loudly proclaimed
as an essential of modern progress is an outward and mechanical and unreal liberty. The
equality that has been so much sought after and battled for is equally an outward and mechanical
and will turn out to be an unreal equality. Fraternity is not even claimed to be a practicable
principle of the ordering of life and what is put forward as its substitute is the outward and
mechanical principle of equal association or at best a comradeship of labour.’’^®
Liberty, equality and fraternity- all these values are always in conflict with each other,
unless transformed with spiritual light and knowledge. Liberty on its own emphasizes on
human freedom, some kind of laissez faire, thus neglecting the principle of equality. Similarly,
the principle of equality on its own contradicts the principle of liberty as it emphasizes on
equality of human beings at the cost of individual freedom. It can be said, Sri Aurobindo brings
here into focus the never-ending debate in political theory concerning the principles of liberty
and equality. He argues that two apparent contradictory principles can be reconciled with the
higher principle of fraternity. But this reconciliation appears unworkable in the present scheme
of things which put emphasis on mere appearance and mechanical order. Because fraternity
as it is implied in its present working means just formal coming of nations together or just
some kind of formal unity.
The religion of humanity, as envisaged by Sri Aurobindo, is the true embodiment of the
three supreme values. It harmonizes all these three values in a proper perspective. In fact.
Political Philosophy of Hegel and Sri Aurobindo 491
liberty in its true sense is not exclusive. Freedom not only implies ‘freedom to’ but also
‘freedom from’. Similarly, equality in its true sense not only implies equitable rights but also
equitable duties. And this harmonious working of the principles of liberty and equality is
possible only when the spirit of brotherhood encompasses all the human hearts. Only then
the ideal for human unity would emerge not as a distant possibility but as an imperative need
of mankind. Because, Sri Aurobindo rightly sees, with the passing of time nations have come
closer to each other. The major contributions made by the means of ‘science, commerce and
rapid communication’^® in this regard cannot be denied. As the achievements of science and
technology transcend national boundaries, similarly the religion of humanity transcends ail
narrow national mentalities and all those forces that confine human mentality to rigidities.
Hence, the world union as Sri Aurobindo envisages would not be rigid and dogmatic. It
would not succumb to hegemonic ambitions of any particular nation because a true world
union would be based on the “principle of equality in which considerations of size and strength
will not enter’’.^^ It would give equal respect to diverse cultures and patterns of life. And, it
would, in the language of Crossing the Divide: Dialogue Among Civilizations,^^ recognize the
principles of equality and distinction, not domination and disintegration. It would not allow big,
powerful nations to usurp the rights of other nations in violation of the basic principles of the
world body, as the recent case of Iraq invasion by the US displays. This world order would be
akin to a rich tapestry in which different shades of colour are beautifully placed in their own
places or like an ornament in which different varieties of precious stones are placed in their
requisite order.
IV
Hegel and Sri Aurobindo believed in the evolutionary progression of human society.
Both also believed in the historical necessity of such a progression. Both were champions of
their age, i.e. while Hegel hoped for German unification and restore law and order, and devised
his philosophy accordingly, Sri Aurobindo advocated extreme methods for independence of
India, which for him was a spiritual necessity for the whole mankind. Similarly, both Hegel and
Sri Aurobindo expressed high regards for traditions: while Sri Aurobindo revived the system of
Vedic philosophy in his writings, the reunification of Germany and the revival of ‘German spirit’
was a major concern for Hegei. While Hegel advocated for measures such as efficient
bureaucracy, monarchy and assembly of estates for the achievement of universal ethical
order, Sri Aurobindo believed in national education and integral yoga as methods to revive the
Indian spirit towards the final accomplishment of ideal human unity.
However, the differences seem to outnumber the similarities in their approaches. The
The indian Journal of Political Science
following are the major differences:
492
First, while for Hegel state is the highest embodiment of rational spirit, for Sri Aurobindo
it is not even rational, but infra-rational. To the Hegelian dialectic which finds state as the
highest ethical order, Sri Aurobindo posits state as an evolution which possesses rationaiity
at a very rudimentary stage.
Second, Hegel’s state is organic and it has its own personality, but for Sri Aurobindo it
is a machine, based on force. For Hegel, state is ethical and absolute in its character; for Sri
Aurobindo it is a machine, though necessary, to address some basic needs of individuals in
society.
Third, Hegel advocated for an unflinching obedience to state. Sri Aurobindo advocated
for transcending the state mechanism towards ideal human unity. Hegel believes that in the
state individual finds his highest achievement because for him state is 'freedom actualized.’.
For Sri Aurobindo state is an insufficient machinery to provide individual true freedom. This
difference can be described as a major departure of Sri Aurobindo from Hegel. Hegel’s
rationalism, or march of the spirit, stops at the state formation: Sri Aurobindo's rationalism
marches farther, transcends the state concept, and then moves towards ideal human unity.
Fourth, while Hegel’s metaphysics is narrow, Sri Aurobindo’s metaphysics is broad.
Hegel is considered as a philosopher with original endowment, Sri Aurobindo is considered as
a philosopher, seer and yogi. Sri Aurobindo believes in the concept of supramental being,
which, he believes, is on the anvil in the next phase of evolution of human society. Hence,
while Hegel stopped at the rational being and rational state, Sri Aurobindo talked about supra-
rational being and ideal human unity.
Also, .the state as conceptualized by Hegel may not be able to resolve the class
antagonisms arising out of the civil society. Karl Marx has become the harshest critic of Hegel
in this context. As the current trends of state formulation reveal, the antagonisms between
various identities have further been ensconced within state system. Going a step further, it
can be argued in the Hegelian terminology that the antagonistic nature of civil society, instead
of getting subdued in the state, has engulfed the state as we witness recent developments in
international politics such as attack on Iraq, and the manipulation of international mechanisms
such as the United Nations for national economic interests. In this regard, Sri Aurobindo’s
concept of ideal human unity comes handy to provide succour to emerging international
problems.
The Hegelian theory of state and civil society can be questioned on many empirical
Poiitica! Philosophy of Hegel and Sri Aurobindo 493
grounds. How can the individual, so self-centred and selfish, come tamed under the state?
The experience of Soviet socialist system brings to the knowledge that any rigid state control
may lead to its collapse. Again, how can the individual, so immersed in the activities in civil
society, obey another individual or individuals who are at the helm of affairs of the state? There
is no guarantee that these individuals would not be guided by selfish motives. The Fascist
rulers too have claimed to represent the state. Hence, the Hegelian notion that the state
represents the highest ethical order may be questioned on the above grounds, though his
analyses regarding its evolutionary character, the functioning and role of civil society bear
historical veracity.
Sri Aurobindo from the very beginning refuses to ascribe the state highest ethical
character because of its inherent fallacy. For him, the state cannot be the highest embodiment
of spirit; it cannot be march of god on earth. It is a stage in the growth of human society. But
it is not the final stage as in the case of Hegel. Sri Aurobindo expressed optimism that when
the ‘supreme social trinity’, i.e. liberty, equality and fraternity would be embedded with a
higher spiritual meaning, only can then the miseries rising out of state machine be resolved.
However, Sri Aurobindo like Hegel can be criticized on the same ground of teleology.^'^ Like
Hegel he also applied the same evolutionary principle though with different objectives. Hence,
his concept of supra-rationai society can well be questioned on empirical ground.
V
Hegel and Sri Aurobindo have made seminal contributions to political philosophy. Though
Hegel is considered the architect of dialectic principle and introduced concepts such as civil
society, bureaucracy and alienation with far reaching implications and which were later
elaborated and modified by Marx, Weber, Frankfurt School, etc, Sri Aurobindo’s most important
contribution to political philosophy remains with the fact that he introduced spiritual principle
in the domain of political theory and gave concepts such as ideal human unity.
Hegel’s major source of inspiration was Greek philosophy, Judaism and Chrlstianism,
French Revolution, Industrial Revolution, and thinkers such as Kant, Fichte, Schiller and
Steuart. Sri Aurobindo highly derived from the Indian culture and tradition. His western liberal
education, coupled with Indian metaphysical system, guided his political thought. Like Hegel
who strove to bring unity in Germany, Sri Aurobindo worked to free India from foreign yoke,
though the methods of both varied. Hegel glorified war among nations but Sri Aurobindo talked
about harmony among nations in his concept of ideal human unity. Both believed in the
evolutionary principle, though both had different objectives while using this principle.
494
The Indian Journal of Political Science
In contemporary political scenario, Sri Aurobindo’s theory may appear more relevant
than Hegel’s. Hegel’s glorification of war may not be tenable in the age of atomic weapons.
Similarly, his theory of unconditional obedience to state may not be congruent with free
rational spirit of individual. In this context, the 20th century proponents of globalization who
advocate for ‘demise of state’ and the advocates of neo-liberal theory have already made
enough dent into the Hegelian argument of state as representative of universal ethical order. In
this background, Sri Aurobindo’s concept of ideal human unity, which overcomes as well
mitigates the shortcomings of state, may become more relevant. Though as a political
philosopher Hegel might have more to offer in way of analysis, but as a visionary and seer Sri
Aurobindo provided clue not only to the sufferings of individuals in the state but also to its
solution.
End Notes
1 . For Hegel god, spirit, reason, idea, universal, real and rational have almost synonymous
connotations, and hence, are used interchangeably in his philosophy.
2. For a detail exposition of social and political philosophy of Hegel see, Cullen, Bernard,
Hegel’s Social and Political Thought: An Introduction, Gill and Macmillan, Bristol, 1979;
and Verma, V. P., Political Philosophy of Hegel, Trimurti Publications Private Limited,
New Delhi, 1 974. Cullen has made a detail analysis of influences on Hegel. See Cullen,
Ibid, pp. 25-37.
3. At the out set it can be mentioned here that one cardinal difference between particularism
and universaiism in Hegelian political philosophy is that while the former is individual-
centric, and often motivated by selfish interests of the individual, the latter is concerned
about common good, hence directed towards harmony and order in society. On this
account Sri Aurobindo makes a radical departure from Hegel.
4. According to Hegel, from the point of view of the human actors, history is a union of
irony and tragedy; from the point of view of the Whole it is a cyclic or spiral advance.
See Sabine, G. H,, A History of Political Theory, Oxford & |BH Publishing Co. Pvt. Ltd,,
New Delhi, 1 973, p. 531,
5. Hegelian concept of civil society Is different from other concepts of civil society, especially
that of Antonio Qram§ci. Hegel attributes mostly the economic significance to the civil
society, in which individual economic interests are f ulfilied in a complex market economy;
Gramsci emphasizes its ideological role in a capitalist society.
Poiitical Philosophy of Hegel and Sri Aurobindo 495
6. However, the major difference is that while Rousseau was a critic of rationalism and
talked about private property and family as a corrupting factor in human society, for
Hegel the evolution of private property and family are necessary stages of development
in the progress of spirit.
7. Dunning, W. A., A History of Political Theories; Rousseau to Spencer, Central Publishing
House, Allahabad, pp. 1 55-1 56.
8. There is a long debate in political theory about the origin of state. While the Social
Contract theorists such as Hobbes, Locke and Rousseau believe in the state as human
artifice: the Divine Origin theorists such as Robert Filmer and Kautilya believe in the
state as the creation of god; classical Marxists believe it as an instrument in the hands
of bourgeoisie to exploit proletariat; Hegel belongs to the evolutionary school. Sri
Aurobindo also belongs to the evolutionary school with his own interpretations.
9. Locke postulates inalienable natural rights which exist prior to state, but for Hegel, only
in the state individual can have rights proper. He does not believe in the concept of
natural rights which can overpower the dictates of state.
10. Quoted in Cullen, Bernard, op. cit, p. 85.
11. Sabine, op. cit, pp. 605 and 810.
12. For Derrida’s criticism see, Singh, R. P., Philosophy: Modern and Postmodern, pp. 53-
75.
13. Sri Aurobindo, The Human Cycle, The Ideal of Human Unity, and The War and Self-
determination, Sri Aurobindo Ashram, Pondicherry, 1 962, p, 61 8.
14. Ibid, p. 797.
15. Ibid, p. 743.
16. Mohanty, J. N., Essays on Indian Philosophy, Traditional and Modern, Oxford University
Press, Delhi, 1993, p. 142.
17. Sri Aurobindo, The Human Cycle, op. cit, p. 7Q0.
18. Curry, W.B., The Case for Federal Union, Penguin Book Ltd., Middlesex, 1939, p, 65.
19. Ibid, pp. 762-763. ,
20. Ibid,p.617.
The Indian Journal of Political Science
21 . Sri Aurobindo, The Human Cycle, op. cit, p. 783.
496
22. Giandomenico, Picco and et ai, Crossing the Divide: Dialogue Among Civilizations,
Sheton Hall University, New Jersey, 2001, pp. 1-252. This book, written under the
auspices of the United Nations the theories of ‘the Clash of Civilizations’, developed by
Samuel Huntington, and 'End of History’, developed by Francis Fukuyama, and posits
hope on the United Nations Organization for the resolution of problems confronted by
nations, it envisages the emergence of the United Nations as some kind of ‘global
social contract’, which recognizes the principle of equality and distinction among the
nations (p. 69).
23. Sri Aurobindo’s concept of supramental being is compared with Plato’s concept of philosopher
king and Nietzsche’s concept of superman. However, the major difference between Sri
Auorbindo.and other thinkers in this context is that while for the former it is supra-rational,
for the latter it is the culmination of rational {but it Is rational, it does not transcend the
rational principle). For a fuller exposition of Sri Aurobindo’s concept of supramental being
see Sri Aurobindo, Life Divine, Sri Aurobindo Ashram, Pondicherry, 1997.
24. Teleology implies explaining or analyzing an event in terms of its purpose.
The Indian Journal of Political Science
Vol. LXVIll, No. 3 , July-Sept.,'2007
ENVIRONMENTAL STEWARDSHIP AND
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT :
A STUDY OF THE ROLE OF GOVERNMENT IN REHABILITATION OF PERSONS
AFFECTED BY SARDAR SAROVAR DAM IN INDIA
nasnmi i>nnvastava
^ completion of the SarPar Sarovar Project make it
but the issue of resettlement and rehabilitation of
^ /J/ndrance. Inspite of the multiple benefits accuring from the
f ° fl^/sp/aceor by it cannot be overlooked, therefore a
rehabilitation pohey has been charted out by the Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat
ZZhTiZTh analyze the steps taken by the government to
nnif If affected by the construction of the Sardar Sarovar dam. Until and
unless these people are suitably resettled the development caused by this project cannot
he termed sustainable.
INTRODUCTION :
While most other new nations of Asia and Africa have generaiiy been moving in the
direction of greater authoritarianism, India has moved towards a greater democratization of
power. Perhaps the most important aspect of the programme of democratization has been
the establishment of universal adult suffrage, which has made the new institutions subject to
popular control and thus caused a shift in power from administration to popular government.'
Proposals for the reform of democratic society are not enough.^ if the government bothers
the problems of people and takes lead to solve them properly, then it will be more effective
Specially the mega projects are made by the government for development purposes These
developmental programmers are to be looked into a wider obligatory perspective of sooio-
cultural, socio - political and socio- economical environment.
The tern ‘development’ was used and discussed till I960. Afterwards the attention
shifted to term 'sustainable development', which emphasized on total development instead
of one-sided development. It was emphasized that care must be taken while carrying
development so that It is not at the cost of destaiction in other fields. Sustainable development
should be future oriented where environmental problems should not arise. Also demographic
balance must be maintained. Such development in one nation must also not be at the cost of
any loss to Other nation.
498
The Indian Journal of Political Science
Fig. {1 ) gives an idea of the model of the sustainable development .
Fig. 1 Sustainable Development
One time investment
on land and water
Agio forestry and
Farm forestry
Ecological
Economic
clevelopnienl
development
Social
development
Sustainable
development
In India, the leadership was taken by the Government itself for sustainable development
during formulation and operation of Sardar Sarovar Project. In the nation’s five year plans,
importance was given equally to both development and the environment. In 1 980, a committee
was formed which recommended to the Central Government to create a separate department
of environment. Protection of Environment Act 1986 was also passed by the government to
protect the environment. It has been provided that under article 32 and 226 of the Constitution
of India, the Supreme Court and High courts of India may accept the writ petitions related to
constitutional matters. The petitions regarding environmental problems are generally filed
under Article 21 of the Constitution. The judicial activism has been increased and a large
number of public interest litigation cases have been disposed by judiciary. The issues of
human rights have been also linked with these problems. The National Human Rights
Commission has been set up through a Presidential Ordinance promulgated on 29 September
1993, which became an Act in 1994.^ In May 1995, National Environment Tribunal Act has
been passed where the disputes regarding environment are to be heard. The provision for
the establishment of such tribunals has been added in part XIV A of the 42nd amendment
bill 1976.^
The Directive Principles of State Policy, as contained in part IV of the Indian
Constitution, covering Articles from 36 to 51 , underline in Article 48 A that, “The State shall
endeavour to protect and improve the environment and to safeguard the forest and wild life
Environmental Stewardship and Sustainable Development : 499
of the country”.® The Forty Second Constitutional Amendment Act has inserted Part IV A
with Article 51 A having a set of Fundamental Duties. It says that, “it shall be the duty of every
citizen of India to protect and improve the natural environment including forests, lakes, rivers
and wildlife and to have compassion for living creature”.® Similarly, in the seventh Schedule
of the Constitution, concurrent list consists of the subjects like forest and protection of wildlife.^
The South Asia suffers the most though they constitute one fifth world population,
subsits on one twentieth of land mass, bears a reasonable share of resources, ironically
gets a profit share in world economy not even one percent. In India, an honest assessment
of impact potential in many cases of the development projects are required and should be
assessed on the ground of sustainable development. Most of the developing nations
disregarded the plea for limited growth as made by the environmentalists. Without
technological development and economic growth modernization is inconceivable. A mass
society cannot come into being unless the means for mass participation, mass communication,
mass transformation, mass production exist.® In India, the voluntary organizations of activists
and affected masses themselves sprang up to fight the developmental projects prepared by
the government. Certainly, there is utility of large dams. In 1 950, the Bhakra Nangal dam in
north India, which is called “the temple of modern India", was the veritable fountain head of
India’s Green Revolution, one of the very few economic success stories of the country.
Punjab’s prosperity and the fact that the country is now self-sufficient in food was largely due
to this dam with the power that they generated, power that kept the tubewells running and
the complex of irrigation canals that flowed from the dam.
It is universally acknowledged that every development project-be it a hydro-electric
project or steel plant or atomic power station-is meant for the larger good of the people. The
Tehri hydroelectric plant, one of the largest power projects of the country, began commercial
operations on July 30, 2006. The plant which is expected to supply energy to Delhi, Uttaranchal.
Rajasthan and Haryana, began operations after being embroiled in controversies for 35
years.® Independent India has witnessed myriad development project in different parts of
the country in the last nearly six decades, but no project has stirred up such widespread
controversy as the grandiose Sardar Sarovar project (SSP) on Narmada River.’'®
OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY :
However, in the process of development, some people are bound to suffer. The object
of this study is to analyse the actions taken by the government for rehabilitation of the people
affected by the construction of Sardar Sarovar Dam. The significant feature in this case is
the environmental stewardship of the concerned government. In democracy, the government
is the representative of people and if it succeeds in guarding interests of the people by their
proper rehabilitation and protecting their socio- cultural environment, then the role of the
government in environment stewardship will be real and will definitely lead to sustainable
development.
The Indian Journal of Political Science
NARMADA VALLEY PROJECT IN INDIA :
500
The main river of central India is Narmada, which is known as the ‘life line’ of the state
of Madhya Pradesh. It originates from Amarkantak in Madhya Pradesh. It is the fifth largest
river in India and the largest which flows from east to west and into the Arabian sea. The total
length of Narmada rjver is 1312 kms. The Narmada basin is about 98,800 sq. kms. of which
87% lies in Madhya Pradesh, 1 .5% in Maharashtra and 1 1 .5% in Gujarat. Some years before,
the utilization of the river basin was hardly 4%. As per the recommended basin planning by
the Narmada Water Disputes Tribunal, there are 30 multipurpose major projects, out of
which 11 would be on the main river and 19 on the tributaries. Besides, 135 medium and
3000 minor irrigation schemes have been taken up. All the above proposed projects and
schemes are in Madhya Pradesh except Sardar Sarovar Project which is in Gujarat and is
under construction.'*''
Sardar Sarovar Project ; r -
The project of the main big dam on Narmada River is called Sardar Sarovar project.
There are other smaller dams which are called as Narmada Sagar project, Indira Sagar ■
project, Bargi project etc.
The Sardar Sarovar project is an inter - state multipurpose project of the states of
Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Rajasthan, which is under construction in Gujarat.
The tribunal has fixed the height of Sardar Sarovar dam as 455 feet. The reservoir extends
up to 216 kms. In all, 245 villages are affected by submergence of Sardar Sarovar project of
which 193 are in Madhya Pradesh, 19 in Gujarat and 33 in Maharashtra. The government
has given its green signal to the project of Sardar Sarovar Dam on river Narmada which has
been the largest ever displacement in India encompassing a total of 245 villages and about
70,000 tribals,'^ The Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh and the leaders of all parties of the
state have desired reducing the height of the dam from 455 feet to 436 feet so that the
submergence of land may be lesser in Madhya Pradesh.''^
House-hold survey of submergent villages has been done through a questionnaire
containing socio-economic information and information about land & property coming
submergence. According to Madhya Pradesh Government, it is committed to a just and
proper rehabilitation of the oustees of the Sardar Sarovar project.’"' The Government says
that minimizing the adverse impact on the environment due to the construction of the dam
has been one of the foremost objectives in the project planning process.''^ The government
says that ail precautions have been taken in planning the construction and operation of the
project to ensure that the hazards of water-logging and salinity do not occur even in seemingly
vulnerable areas of the command.''®
Some salient features of the project are as foilows: The project is planned to serve for
irrigation in Gujarat. The annual irrigation Is estimated around 1 .90 million Ha. at 75%
dependability. Drinking water problem of more then 7000 villages of Gujarat is also likely to
Environmental Stewardship and Sustainable Development : 501
be solved by the project The aggregate installed capacity of hydrostations would be 1450
MW. Madhya Pradesh will get 57% of power generated. The project is planned in an inter-
state framework with the regulated release of water from the Indira Sagar project located
320 kms. upstream in Madhya Pradesh. The entire command area of Sardar Sarovar project
is in Gujarat. Sardar Sarovar project is perhaps the most intensively investigated project in
the country. For examining the proneness of various parts of the service area to development
of water-logging and salinity, detailed studies and surveys have been carried out.
Analysis of the role of government for environmental stewardship
Regarding the environment of Narmada Valley, the Madhya Pradesh Government
viewed that the Narmada flows in hilly gorge from the origin to the Arabian Sea. The undulating
hilly terrain in the lower submergence area of Sardar Sarovar project exhibits naked hills and
depleted forests. Even small forest animals are very rarely seen because of lack of forest
cover and water. The oft quoted symbiotic living with forests is a misnomer in this area
because the depleted forests have nothing to offer but fuel wood. Soil is very poor mostly
disintegrated, granite and irrigation is almost nil due to undulating & hilly land. Anybody
visiting this area finds the people desperately sowing even in the hills with steep gradient.
Only one ramified crop of mostly maize is sown and so there is no surplus economy.
Project affected persons (PAPs) inhabiting these interior areas find generous
rehabilitation and resettlement packages as a means to assimilate in the mainstream in the
valley. Therefore, the resettlement & rehabilitation of people whose habitat environment
makes living difficult does not pose any problems and so the rehabilitation and resettlement
does not pose a threat to environment. On the other hand, the water in the reservoir will
definitely be a boon to the depleted forest and will enrich the environment.
According to the decision of the Narmada Water Dispute Tribunal, Madhya Pradesh
and Maharastra shall acquire for Sardar Sarovar project under the provisions of the Land
Acquisition Act 1894, all lands of private ownership and all buildings with their appurtenant
land situated below the 455 feet of Sardar Sarovar and all interests therein not belonging to
the respective states."'®
Rehabilitation policy for the oustees :
The policy of the Madhya Pradesh Government regarding rehabilitation and
resettlement of displaced persons of this corhplex project based on some broad principles
for rehabilitation of displaced families:
^ The aim of the state Government is that all displaced families as defined hereinafter,
would, after their relocation and resettlement improve, or at least regain, their previous
standard of living within a reasonable time.
Reasonable compensation action would be determined for the lands, buildings and
other immovable assets acquired. Similarly, a reasonable cost would be charged for
602
The Indian Journal of Political Science
the lands that would be allotted at the new sites.
The families to be shifted to Gujarat would be provided agricultural land in that state.
According to Secretary of Sardar Sarovar project, agricultural plots were readily available for
allotment. The oustees could select the plot of their choice out of these. The oustees to be
“vl'plote 9iven
Rehabilitation grant by Madhya Pradesh Government :
Rehabilitation grant will be paid to each of the displaced families in suitable installments.^'
'•ehabilitation grant is related to present prices, and is linked to Government of
If rrh^htr. '' ** by the Government of India, the amount
of rehabilitation grants will also be correspondingly revised,
Prades'hTnri ‘tf f amends to the oustees families from Madhya
radesh and Maharashtra who are willing to migrate to Gujarat. Gujarat is also directed to
provide for rehabilitation and civic amenities as per directions.22
Some important aspects of rehabilitation & resettlement :
Identification of PAPs : House-hold suivey of affected villages has been conducted
undersT information regarding the land, houses and other property coming
uoriaLri status of the PAPs. This survey record has been
pdated in recent months by holding 'information camps' In affected villages The lists of
inld^Ah and oyectal were
the fets afplps wLTr Rehabilitation Officers,
PAP<! h=, if ^ '''"ages where activists were very active, the lists of
PAPs, have been finalized by developing suteble contacts with a secflon of PAPs ^0 0^
hei n TeT" '7 information camp7een
villaoA« ® '''"age' after doing wide publicity, then the activists from outside
villages would have disrupted these camps. However as the PAPs are rnntarfoH •
Without Wide publicity associated with th^ normal info" I n ^
resettlement staff could get all the necessary information from the pf Ps ^
property coming7te7,ZeSL"'’'" ®^
503
Environmental Stewardship and Sustainable Development :
submergence affects the village abadi partially and the agricultural land in the upper
submergence areas will also be affected partially. The upper submergence areas are culturally
different from the lower submergence areas which are situated on the border of Gujarat.
Therefore, a PAP of lower submergence area finds more at home in Gujarat as compared to
Nimad region of upper submergence area.
Resettlement: the problem :
Under Tribunal’s award, the willing PAPs have to be provided land in the command
area of the project. Accordingly, amongst those PAPs who have given their consent for
settlement in Gujarat, 1 ,112 families has already been allotted agricultural land.
In addition to the above, 81 88 PAP families have also given their written consent for
resettlement in Gujarat and 16,616 families have given their written option for settlement in
Madhya Pradesh. In addition to these PAPs, there are 8210 PAPs who have not given their
options regarding the state of resettlement so far. These PAPs, have not exercised their
options because of the following two reasons:
♦ They are members of the ‘Narmada Bachao Andoian’ and are against the construction
of the dam.
♦ Though they are not against the dam, but have not given their options because of the
fear of activists.
It is assumed that out of 8210 numbers of PAPs who have not given their options,
5936 are likely to resettle in Gujarat and 2274 in Madhya Pradesh.
For the rehabilitation & resettlement of Madhya Pradesh PAPs, in Gujarat, a day-to-
day programme of allotment of agricultural plots and house sites is chalked out with the
rehabilitation officers of Gujarat. On an appointed day: the rehabilitation officer of Madhya
Pradesh goes to Gujarat and identifies the land and then on another appointed day he takes
the PAPs for the land selection. The PAPs are free to exercise their choices. Once they
select the land, the proposal Is put up before the land purchase committee. After the land
purchase Committee negotiates & finalizes the deal, on an appointed day again, the PAPs
are taken to Gujarat for allotment of land and house sites. The final shifting is done after
payment of compensation for house and other property.
Narmada Valley Development Authority had commissioned a socio-economic study
of the tribal people in the villages coming under submergence. The report submitted by the
commission is a comprehensive study of the tribal people; As per their recommendations,
some actions need to be initiated :
♦ To facilitate the process of ‘informal participation’, the traditional leaders, i.e., the ‘pujara’,
(he ‘bedwa’, the ‘patel’, and the ‘dehalas’, should be involved at each step in the rehabilitation
& resettlement activities.
Some of the oustees have left their places which were allotted to them and the
rehabilitation scheme. For the demand of justice the leaders of Save Narmada Movement
have undertaken long marches and several writ petitions have been filed in various courts
including the Supreme Court. The decisions of the Supreme Court guided the decisions of
the Government.^®
The Indian Journal of Political Science
♦ in order to orient the PAPs, awareness input pertaining to environment, health and
community education must be organized at relocation sites.^®
CONCLUDING REMARKS :
All the proposed projects and schemes are in Madhya Pradesh except Sardar Sarovar
project which is in Gujarat. It is an inter-state multipurpose project of the states of Madhya
Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Rajasthan.
The availability of drinking water, irrigation facilities and hydroelectricity for industries
will make this project useful for sustainable development. The objections for this project are
mostly on the issue of rehabilitation of the affected persons. During my personal visit to the
Narmada Valley Development Authority, Madhya Pradesh at Bhopal and Indore, the
Government’ officials expressed their views that Government is committed to take care of all
the oustees. Hard labour and efforts have been made from Government side to explain the
situation of rehabilitation to the tribais. At each and every stage, the data has been collected
and complete programme was made by the intellectuals, i.e. university professors and l.A.S.
officers. Lot of money is going to be spent by the Government of Madhya Pradesh and
Gujarat for rehabilitation.
There is other view that the Narmada valley project will transform the giant river
Narmada of central India into a series of large poois and reservoirs, and destroy it as we
know it for all time. Destroying too the livelihood of more than a million people, who must be
evacuated to make way for the dam; submerging extensive areas of irreplaceable forest;
slaughtering wild life on an unimaginably large scale; and destabilizing permanently the river
basin's ecology, decidedly for the worse. Naturally, the decision to clear the project was
greeted with dismay by environmentalists all over India and the world.^'^
There can be no doubt that getting uprooted is not a happy experience. The human
problem arising out of displacement of such a populace requires great sensitivity and an
empathetic approach towards planning and execution of their rehabilitation and resettlement.
Their traditional identity and relationship with their social and physical environment suffers
as village communities get delinked from traditional sources of livelihood affecting community
life and causing social problems. The traditional tribal leaders do not seem. to have been
involved in the process of rehabilitation. Their symbiotic relationship with their habitat has
cultural and religious significance and needs to be taken into account while recreating a
harmonious environment at the new relocation site to avoid psychological insecurity.^®
Environmental Stewardship and Sustainable Development : 505
The Narmada Bachao Andolan's (NBA) plea to stop the height of the Sardar Sarovar
dam from being raised to 1 21 .92m has been rejected by the Supreme Court.^^ The Supreme
Court order completes a cycle of response to the NBA over the past 20 years since its
inception, during which time it has steadfastly opposed the completion of the dam under the
Sardar Sarovar Project on one ground or the other, ranging from environment and resettlement
issues to the human costs involved.
In the late- 1 980s and early- 1 990s, the NBA, under Medha Patkar, was able to convince
the Central Government and the World Bank to withdraw from the project. But changed
circumstances- an arid Gujarat pushing for water, rising demand for power and a growing
project co%t- have persuaded the courts to lookfor a middle ground. In 2001, the apex court
declared that the construction should continue but only after a monitoring committee furnished
reports on the progress of relief and rehab (R&R) at every stage.
Patkar reels out figures suggesting that the governments of the four concerned states-
Gujarat, Madhaya Pradesh, Maharastra and Rajasthan- whether under the BJP or the
Congress, have consistently reneged on the promise to provide land in exchange for irrigated,
arable land that faces submersion once the dam height is raised, it has taken more than 40
years for the dam to reach its present height of 1 1 0m, but Patkar feels it is at the expense of
over 3,20,000 people. The NBA leader also has strong reservations on the viability of the
project.
But is there a way to quell the protests? ‘Three things,” she says. “One, the Government
should complete R&R according to letter and spirit of the Narmada Water Dispute Tribunal
Award. Two, the dam height should not be raised beyond the present 110m as there is not
much to be gained in terms of power and irrigation. Three, the CBi should probe R&R scams.”
The ball, clearly, is in the Government court. According to a news, the Sardar Sarovar dam
will be raised to 121.82m by December 2006 .^^
There is no doubt that the huge hydro- electric project will benefit all the four States,
providing easy access to drinking water, irrigation and power. This is commendable indeed,
but the community and the governments must take due care of those in these four States
who will lose their homes and livelihood when Narmada submerges their sweet homes and
surroundings.
A Group of Ministers (GoM) was deputed by the Prime Minister in the first week of
April 2006 to study the rehabilitation measures undertaken so far for the displaced in Madhya
Pradesh.
The visit by the GoM showed in stark reality the hollow claims of rehabilitation. At one
place out of 407 families only two accepted land; the land had to be dug ten feet deep to
make it cultivable. Obviously, the Government had not conducted a proper survey and offered
the land without consulting the oustees. The authorities did not bother to provide for sanitation
drinking water, sewerage, roads much less the facilities like hospital, water reservoir, school,’
The Indian Journal of Political Science
post office, etc., while allotting land.
506
There is no denying the fact that most of the rehabilitation sites developed by the
State Government for the people displaced by Sardar Sarovar Project have not been occupied.
Inability of the Narmada Valley Development Authority (NVDA) to develop all civic amenities
at these sites could be a major reason for project affected families’ unwillingness to move
there. More than that they seem to be assured that their villages, counted among submergence
areas, would never drown. NVDA Chairman said submergence area was determined on the
basis of the worst flood in Narmada in 1 00 years.^®
Many of the oustees complained that they had not been offered compensation. Where
they got compensation, it was so meager that they couldn’t purchase the area of land to
which they were entitled. And there was the standing complaint that people had to pay bribes
for receipt of cheques as compensation.
“You cannot ignore the voice of the poor in a development process. Development
need not mean displacement. And you cannot have a handful of people take decisions
without the participation of those affected and those asked to sacrifice all”, said Ms. Medha
Patkar while on a 20-day hunger strike in Delhi in April 2006.
We have been witnessing displacement of families in the wake of development project
right from the 1950s. But till the anti-dam movement in the Narmada Valley, the displaced
were treated as dispensable citizens. A study by the Indian Council for Social Science
Research (ICSSR) found that 21.3 million people had been displaced between 1951 and
1990, to make way for mines, dams, industries and wildlife sanctuaries.^®
The four beneficiary states have to be made accountable to the families who have
sacrificed their ail in order that their brethren are assured of a better harvest and greater
access to drinking water and power.
The ‘Hindu’ in its editorial says that in a democracy, all developmental policies must
go through this kind of vigorous and informed public debate to ensure that the voices of
those most affected are heard.
Perhaps they (activists) do not have faith in the sincerity of Government. The trust in
Government among the people is highly required along with the honest and sincere efforts
of the Government. Only then the stewardship of the Government can succeed in this field.
REFERENCES :
1 Pye, Lucian w. and Verba, Sidney, Political Culture and Political Development ,
Princeton, New Jersey, 1965, p. 207
2 Ridley, F.F., The study of Government. George Allen & Unwin ltd., London, 1975,
p.236
Environmental Stewardship and Sustainable Development : 507
3 Johari J.C., The Constitution of India, a politico-legal study, sterling Publishing Pvt.,
Delhi, 1995, p. 408
4 Markandan, K.C., Aspects of India polity, A.B.S. Publications, Jalandhar 1 990, p. 651
5 Article 48 A- Constitution of India, Government of India Publication, Delhi, 1 996
6 Article 51 (g) - Constitution of India, Ibid
7 Seventh Schedule- 17 a and b- Constitution of India, Ibid.
8 Tachau, Frank (ed.), The Developing Nations, Dodd, Mead and Company, New York
1974. p. 9
9 Tehri plant begins operations’ - Competition Success Review, New Delhi, September
2006, p. 185
1 0 ‘Development not at the cost of the people’ - Competition Success Review, New Delhi,
June 2006, p. 19
1 1 Sardar Sarovar Project Action Plan of Resettlement & Rehabilitation for the Oustees
of Madhya Pradesh, Gove, of Madhya Pradesh, Bhopal, March 1993. p.114
1 2 Philip A.G., ‘a saga of grit’, Hindustan Times, Delhi, May 5, 1 992.
1 3 Paryavaran digest (Hindi monthly journal on environment), Ratiam, April 1 994.p. 9
1 4 Sardar Sarovar Project Compilations of Directions of Narmada Water Dispute Tribunal,
Policy of the Gujarat Gov. and Madhya Pradesh Gove. Regarding Rehabilitation of
S.S.P. oustees, Narmada Valley Development Authority, Madhya Pradesh, Bhopal,
August 1989. p. 5
1 5 Narmada Ghati Vikas Patrika, an in house newsletter of Narmada Control Authority,
Indore, vol. 1 no. 2, Juiy-September, 1993.p. 4
1 6 Anti-water logging and Anti-Salinity Measures in the Command Area of Sardar Sarovar
project, Narmada Control Authority, Indore no. 2/91, December 1991.p. 6
1 7 Drinking water from Sardar Sarovar project, Narmada Control Authority, Indore, No.
3/91, December 1991. p. 2
18 Sardar Sarovar Project Action Plan.... op. cit.,p,1 14
19 Sardar Sarovar Project Compilation .... op. cih, p.2
20 Narmada Ghati Vikas patrika, op. cit., p.2
21 Sardar Sarovar Project Action Plan. ... op. cit., p.42
22 Sardar Sarovar Project Compilations .... op.cit. p.7
The Indian Journal of Political Science
508
23 Sardar Sarovar Project Action Plan..,, op.cit., p.91
24 Alvares, Claude and Billorey, Ramesh, Damming the Narmada, Natraj Publishing,
Dehradun, 1988. p. 6
25 Sardar Sarovar Project Action Plan.... op.cit, p.93
26 Nai Duniya, Indore, October 7, 1995.
27 ‘Environment- Saradar Sarovar Dam- Soldireing On’ India Today, Living Media India
ltd., New Delhi, Vol. xxxi. No 20, May 22, 2006. p. 56
28 Nai Duniya, Indore, Sept. 1 , 2006
29 ‘No drowning fear, so oustees not in a hurry’ ‘Hindustan Times, New Delhi, April 24,
2006, p. 8
30 Development not at the cost of the people’, Competition Success Review, op.cit. p.20
The Indian Journal of Political Science
Vol. LXVIll, No. 3, July-Sept, 2007
URBAN GOVERNANCE AND POLITICS :
A CASE STUDY OF TIRUPATI
M.A. Hussain
The paper falls under the genre of Urban Local Government/Urban politics studies and
is reflective of the growing concern with Local Government after the implementation of
74th Constitutional Amendment Act 1992, as representing the cutting edge of
administration and also the recent paradigm shift in Political Science with focus on
institutional entities. The case study reported here focuses upon recent efforts by
Tirupati Municipality and Tirupati Urban Development Authority to bring about Urban
Development Schemes in Tirupati town.
THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVE :
It is time that the political scientists and students of public administration closely study
the structure of urban government and politics and suggest ways and means of streamlining it
especially in the contest of the urban problems and challenges that urban government is
called upon to face. Urban administration refers to the activities that are performed by the local
institutions established in urban areas. The quality and quantity of the services provided by
the urban political institutions have a significant bearing on the health happiness and economy
of our urban areas. As grass-roots democracies, these urban local institutions form an integral
component of our democratic system and they are meant actively to reinforce the general
tenor of the country’s political liberalism^
INDIAN SCENARIO :
The political objective of urban local government should be the creation of a local
administrative machinery which moves forward with dedication and commitment to civic welfare
and which is always alive to public expectations and which will establish a lasting partnership
between the people and the local administration in the endeavour to provide a citizen-friendly
administration responsive to civic calP. This includes;
1 . Providing information to all citizens about the essential services delivered by the urban
local government and the procedure prescribed to avail themselves of those services;
2. Creating awareness among the public regarding the duties and responsibilities of citizens
towards local government so as to play their role effectively and efficiently to enable
urban local governments to function to the best possible satisfaction of the general
public;
3. The creation of an official machinery to receive and redress public grievances within a
fixed time frame;
4. Ensuring the active participation an co-operation of the public in maintaining a citizen-
friendly administration.
White it is the responsibility of urban local governments to attend public cal! with
The Indian Journal of Political Science
§10
promptitude and efficiency duly maintaining the quality of service, it is the responsibiiity of
citizens to play their role as citizens in every sense of the term towards local government-
For the inability of urban local governments to assimilate and fulfill the aspirations of tax
payers with a positive outlook lack of foresighted planning and prudent fiscal management is
criticized severely by one and all. Therefore, there is need to study the origin of the problem of
inefficiency of urban local governments and work out suitable solutions to overcome these
deficiencies in orderto achieve the objectives set for the complete satisfaction of urban dwellers®.
THE STATE OF URBAN GOVERNMENTS :
Urban local bodies in our country have always been starved of the necessary finances
to discharge their responsibilities. Most of the major sources of finances have been with the
state or union government and the local bodies have had to depend on the benevolenge of the
higher levels of government. On the other hand, the list of statutory responsibilities of urban
local bodies has increased. These have not been matched by a corresponding capacity building
effort of the municipal level. The Municipal staff receives no training at any stage of their career
and has to necessarily wade through the murky waters and hence, set their priorities
themselves. Since most services involve intimate contact with the people on day-do-day basis
(Water supply, Drainage, Sewerage, Roads, School etc.) corruption of every form is easily
visible.
The administrative structures do not allow any scope of sharing power with the people
and hence, any attempt on the part of the civil society to’ partake in the proceedings is
resented as extra-constitutional influence or interference. There is little co-ordination between
the other players in the government as well as the private sector, civil society and employees
organizations.
A similar vacuum exists in the political sphere as also the quality of representation
leaves a lot to be desired. Th® political parties work towards the sole objective of sharing
power, and have little incentive to act otherwise. The urban logal bodies are used only as a
stepping stone to further their political ambition and as rehabilitation for the political goons
used by the parties to indulge in corrupt electoral practices. This has resulted in the
representatives owing their allegiance to trfe party bosses and little to the electorate^,
yR^Al^^OEHARlQ;
yrbanization in India is an expanding phenomenon. Urbanization has accelerated in
th§ W three decades along with rapid ingraase in population- When recurrent droughts and
eyclqnes and other natural calamities hit the rural people, .they are literally pushed out into the
cities and left on their own to seek work and eke out their livelihood- It is the push more than
the pull factor that makes fof multi-dimensional problems. India's urban population has been
increasing due to natural growth and due to migration. In India, out of the total population of
1027 million on 1st March 2001, about 742 million ( more than two thirds) live in rural areas
Urban Governance and Politics
and 285 million in urban areas^.
S11
The popular belief that India lives in its villages requires to be critically examined as
urban growth has been enormous during the last three decades; ‘there may come a day
before long when it may be appropriate to say that India no longer lives in villages but lives in
its cities and towns’.
in such an urban scenario, it is wisdom to give serious thought to proper and efficient
urban governance and all possible steps are taken to set all the institutions connected with it
in sound order. The most important needs of the urban areas of the country are (1 ) augmentation
of drinking water supply, and (2) networking to improye civic amenities in all urban slums.
FUNCTIONS OF URBAN LOCAL GOVERNMENTS :
Ideally, urban local governments should constitute a training ground for state and centra!
governments, it is not forfeited to think so. Many municipal councillors could rise to the
membership of Assembly and Parliament. Urban local authorities may become pioneers in
various fields of political and social activities. The powers of urban local government enable the
local urban community to shape its affairs itself, according to local requirements. Urban local
governments, if they have the will and determination, can work for social improvement and
development with self-improved and regulated finances. The question before us is why urban
local governments in India are unable to function as full-fledged local self government units and
why are they not accountable to the people whose welfare is their ultimate object to fulfill?
Urban governments being seif governing units are closer to the people than state and central
governments. They are obliged to be accountable for the implementation of welfare schemes
to the citizens. Though the major policy initiatives are taken by the central and state
governments, their implementation is mostly left to the urban local governments.
PRINCIPLES AND ATTRIBUTES OF URBAN REFORMS :
Mega urbanization and centralization of power were in full swing. We have to change
the trajectory and should think of decentralization of power and empowerment of urban local
bodies with adequate political power. If we fail to change, it would lead to extension. Continued
strengthening of urban economy would lead to stable and sustainable society. Cohesiveness
of community and faith in each individual should be ensured to strengthen urban local body.
Moreover, power should be given to urban community for better civic governance, it should
have legislativ, judicial and bureaucratic powers. Urban Local Bodies did not have adequate
powers. They could not decide who should cultivate and what should be gyliivated. They did
not govern actively due to insufficient financial resources and also ineffective urban leadership.
T urning now to the theoretical underpinnings of the study, while democracy is related to
the form or arrangement of government, functionality, by contrast, is related to the processes
of administration or, how actual operations take place within the administrative machinery.
These two major concerns have conventionally formed local government reforms. Experience
derived from practice over the years, and ideas of governance in general and sustainable
The Indian Journal of Political Science
512
resource use in particular, have led to considerable elaboration of both principles and attributes 4
of local government reforms®.
The Habitat Agenda
The Habitat Agenda, adopted at the second United Nations Conference on Human
Settlements in 1 996, launched the global campaign for good urban governance, signalling a
new and a strategic approach to innovatively grapple with the urban situation worldwide. The
campaign objectives are to increase the capacity of urban level governments in consultation
with stakeholders, and especially to focus attention on the problems of poor, women,
marginalized groups, children and youth, and religious and ethnic minorities. Good urban
governance as per the Habitat Agenda is characterized by ;
0 Sustainability
0 Subsidiarity
0 Equity
0 Efficiency
0 Transparency and accountability
0 Civic engagement and citizenship
0 Security
These norms are reinforcing and interdependent. Everywhere, urban local governance
is expected to follow these norms in the course of pursuit reform initiatives.
Decentralization
Another major thrust area in urban (or local) government reforms is ‘decentralization’. I
Decentralization has, in recent times, received almost universal acclaim as a method of
devolution of powers to bring about political stability (World’s Development Report 1 999, 2000).
Particularly in the developmental context, decentralization has gained widespread popularity
as a means of harnessing public power and civil society’s collective energy.
Brian Smith in his authoritative work on decentralization has mentioned that in the Third
World 'decentralization has long been regarded as a necessary condition of economic, social
and political development’ (1985), As he describes, democratic decentralization has been
favoured for a variety of reasons:''
First : Decentralization has been found to be more effective way of meeting local needs
thancentral planning.
Second ; It has been particularly useful in meeting the needs of the poor, and in enabling
the large majority of the rural poor, and also the urban poor, to participate in politics.
Urban Governance and PoOtics 5^3
Third ; Decentralization is said to have improved access to administrative agencies and
acte as a corrective to people’s apathy and passivity. In this process, it has helped secure
people’s commitment to development.
Fourth ; Support for change through people’s involvement, conflict reduction and
penetration of rural (and also urban) areas have been made possible through decentralization.
Fifth : Decentralization has eased congestion at the centre, and provided more speed
and flexibility during implementation.
Sixth : Local democracy has been satisfying for local subgroups, and it has thus
strengthened national unity..
Seventh ; In the old liberal political sense, decentralization has served the purpose of
political education of the masses.
^ Finally : Local community support for government work has been possible through
decentralization. Local governments have been able to harness local resources and self-help
efforts for local development.
The urge for decentralization has come from many sources. First, it has been prompted
by the need to deliver basic public goods like food, housing, water etc. , as quickly as possible.
Second, most people in developing countries live in distant places far from the national capital,
that IS usually located in far-off urban areas. Administration has to ‘penetrate’ the local areas
and link these up with the nation as a whole. Third, in many countries social diversities
manifest themselves in ethnic, linguistic and regional differences. Fourth, regional and local
resources can be utilized for local development. Decentralization, therefore, facilitates local
planning and development with the help of local resources. Fifth, decentralization has its own
values in political and administrative terms. Politically, local participation in development activities,
besides being resource intensive, paves the way for meaningful articulation of local demands.
anning thus becomes much more realistic and receives ready political support. From the
administrative point of view, local capability to govern local areas increases through sustained
fDarticipation of the people in local energies and enlist local support for development activities
In the process, the local community can steadily attain political and administrative maturity.
JAWAHARLAL NEHRU URBAN RENEWAL MISSION :
The Central Government in November 2005. approved the setting up of Rs.1 lakh crore
Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission covering 60 cities with a million plus
population. Billed as the most ambitious programme ever to be taken up for urban development
i^n the country. The mission will be officially launched by Shri. Man Mohan Singh, the Prime
Minister, on December 3rd .2005; covering all State capitals and other cities considered
important from a religious, historical and tourist perspective. The mission wilt give focused
attention to the integrated development of urban infrastructure and services with special
emphasis on providing basic services to the urban poor, including housing, water supply,
The Indian Journal of Political Science
sanitation, slum improvement and community toilets®.
514
Setting up the mission was a commitment made by the Congress led United Progressive
Alliance in its National Common Minimum Programme. The estimated Rs.1 lakh crore
expenditure will be shared by the central government, state governments and urban local
bodies. As per the proposal this combined investment in urban renewal will be made over the
next 7 years. However, the central financial assistance has been linked to the implementation
of urban reforms by state governments and urban local bodies. They will have to sign a
memorandum of understanding of agreement with the central government giving an undertaking
to implement the reform agenda. Fund releases will be linked to assessment of the
implementation of urban reform agenda. The mission makes it mandatory for states and
municipal bodies to undertake reforms with central funds. The centre will initially give a grant-
in-aid of Rs.50,000 crores over 7 years. The states will have to raise the rest of funds from
market borrowings. Initially 63 cities with over 1 million population and 23 cities of religious
and tourist interest will be covered. Tirupati town is also included under this scheme.
ANDHRA PRADESH LIKELY TO ADOPT ‘KERALA MODEL’:
Decentralization of Powers
The State Government is examining the possibility of adopting the “Kerala Model” in
decentralizing powers to the urban local bodies®.
It is studying a report submitted by a two-member team of officials from the Municipal
Administration Department. The team had visited Kerala three months ago to study the
implementation of 74th Constitutional Amendment Act. According to the report, the hallmarks
of the system in Kerala are people’s participation, transparency and accountability. Kerala
became a role model in the country with the transfer of powers, functions and responsibilities
to the local bodies.
In Kerala, one-third of the plan grant-in-aid of the state has been earmarked for local
bodies in the 10th five year plan. For the distribution of the plan grants, a clear formula has
been evolved and the share of each local body is mentioned in the State Budget document.
Municipalities in Kerala do not supply water. The Kerala Water Authority executes and
maintains all the water supply schemes, besides distributing water In all municipalities and
corporations. About 1 3 departrnents like agriculture, animal husbandry, social forestry, small
scale industries, housing, education, public health and sanitation, social welfare, eradication
of poverty, development of SC/ST, sports and cultural affairs and natural calamity relief have
been transferred to municipalities. The services being extended by the municipalities include
infrastructure facilities, maintenance of buildings and construction of new buildings, supply of
furniture and computers, school laboratories and payment of water and electric charges.
Municipalities are permitted to utilize 1 0 percent of the maintenance grants sanctioned by the
government to these departments for purchase of medicines to hospitals.
Urban Governance and Politics 515
However, staff working in the departments transferred to municipalities continues to be
under the control of the parent department and their salaries are also paid by the parent
departments. The team found that there was dual control of the parent department and the
municipality in the performance of the functions of the departments transferred. It also found
that District Planning Committees (DPCs) have been constituted in all districts with 15 members
of whom, 1 2 shall be elected from the elected members of the panchayats and municipalities
in the district. Every municipality has to prepare an annual plan with the plan grants sanctioned
by the government and with its own funds and get it approved from the DPC.
In a democracy of continental dimensions, governance comprises the complex
mechanisms, processes and institutions through which people articulate their interests and
basic needs, mediate their differences and exercise their rights and obligations. Good
governance means rule of law, good policy-making and implementation, transparency,
accountability and above all people’s participation. It means strengthening of the instruments
of administration; and much more so, the institutions that represent it have also to reach out
to the common people in India.
Good governance is the most important thing that has happened in this century according
to Noble Laureate Amartya Sen. The present Government’s commitment to Administrative
Reforms is highlighted and is expected to provide a stable, honest, transparent and efficient
government. We are now at the dawn of the 21 st century. In the new millennium, the government
would need to reinforce itself to become citizen-friendly. Greater delegation and decentralization
of authority and responsibilities have been brought about by the 74th Constitutional Amendment.
In this reckoning urban institutions have a critical role to play and vital responsibilities to
discharge. But this has, sadly yet truly, remained an unfinished agenda. These promises
have not yet been kept as of now. As per the 1991 Census, 3,72 urban local bodies and 72
Municipal Corporations exist for 3,609 towns and cities but their power is limited by their sub-
ordinate status.
Historical Background
Lord Mayo’s Resolution of 1 870 was a landmark as it recognized local self-government
as an “effective machinery of administrative devolution” and financial decentralization. Lord
Rippon’s Resolution in 1882 and a new legislation in 1884 enlarged the scope of Municipal
Administration in India. The 1884 legislation was in operation till 1932. From 1 933 onwards,
the dichotomy between deliberative and executive wings of Municipal Government became
distinct and clear. The Municipal Chairman emerged as the political executive while the executive
authority was vested in the hands of the Municipal Commissioner. This continued till the dawn
of Indian Independence in 1947.
Position of Urban Local Government institutions prior to the passage of 74th Amendment
Act
The Municipalities in AP were functioning in accordance with two distinct Municipal
The Indian Journal of Political Science
516
Acts til! 1 965. The Municipalities in the Coastal and Rayalsaeema regions were influenced by
the policies of Madras Presidency which was under the direct control of the British Government.
The Municipalities of the Telangana Region were established as per the policies of the Nizam
of Hyderabad. The Municipalities of these two regions at the time of formation of AP were
governed by two- sets of Acts i.e., The Madras District Municipalities Act of 1920 and the
Hyderabad Municipalities Act of 1 956. Later, the two Acts merged together under one unified
act called AP Municipalities Act of 1965. This Act .'/as amended again in 1971 and the
^ following changes took place in the administration of the Municipalities.
a) The Executive Committee was abolished.
b) The Secretary was designated as the Commissioner.
c) The Commissioner was given the functions of the Chief Executive Officer, and
d) The institution of Alderman was abolished.
As per the changes brought out in the Municipal Act of 1986, the T.D.P Government
lowered the age of voter from 21 to 18 years. For the first time, direct elections to the
Chairmanship were introduced. The photo identity card system was introduced in 1 987 Municipal
elections.
The New Set up
The 74th Constitutional Amendment Act of 1 992 came into force from June 1 , 1 994. As
per the new Act, Nagar Panchayats, Municipal Councils and Municipal Corporations were
constituted. Ward committees were constituted within the territorial area of municipality having
a population of 3 lakhs and more. Further, a District Planning Committee was also established
to consolidate the plans jointly prepared by the Panchayats and Municipalities in the district
and to prepare a draft development plan for the whole district. There are at present 7 Municipal
Corporations, 108 Municipalities and 14 Nagar Panchayats and one Cantonment Board
functioning in Andhra Pradesh.
Classification of Municipalities in Andhra Pradesh
According to Section 3 of A.P. Municipalities Act, the State Government is empowered
to declare a local area as a Municipality with a population of not less than 25,000 The State
Government has classified the Municipalities into five grades on the basis of annua! income
and population. The following table provides the details of the classification of Municipalities.
The New Pattern-A Critique
In Andhra Pradesh, to give effect to the 74th Constitution Amendment Act, the
A.P.Municipalities Act, 1965, was amended In 1993. The State Election Commission was
constituted in 1 994 and elections were held in 1 995. The Finance Commission was constituted
which has initiated the process to study the resource needs of the urban and rural local bodies
Urban Governance and Poiitics
517
in AP. The New Act provides for uniformity in the structure of urban bodies in the country,
reservation of seats for women and other disadvantaged sections of the society, and also
provides for regular elections to the Municipalities/Corporations^°.
S.No
Grade
Income Limit
No of
Municipalities in
APfrom 15.9.98
(up to 14.9.98)
1
Selection Grade
Annual income of
Rs.4 crores and above
7(5-f2)
2
Special Grade
Annual income of
Rs.3 crores and above but
less than Rs. 4 crores
9(10-1)
(10-2+1)
3
First Grade
i
1
Annual income of
Rs. more than 2 crores but
less than Rs.3crores
16(17-1)
4
Second Grade
Annual income of Rs.
More than one crore but
not more than two crores
35(35)
5
Third Grade
Annual income of Rs. One
crore or less
than( including one crore
Nagar Panchayats)
41(27+14)
Total 108
Empowerment of people and empowerment of the disadvantaged sections are the
acclaimed advantages of the 73rd and 74th Consitutional Amendments of 1 992. We have not
yet begun to capture and document the effects and limitations of empowerment by using the
government machinery for social engineering. Constitutional Amendments may further freeze
our spirit of enquiry and intellectual capacity to critically examine the existing approach and
search for more effective harmonious and sustainable methods of ‘empowerment’ or upliftment
of socially and economically disadvantaged groups. One would also expect that the next 20-
25 years of working of local governments under the Constitutional Amendment Acts of 1 992
wiii generate enough momentum behind forces In favour of a review of distribution of functions
between Centre, State and local governments. The developments in local government institutions
The Indian Journal of Political Science
in India have far-reaching effects on the institutions of governance of the country.
518
The 74th Constitutional Amendment Act is a major landmark in the progress towards
democratic decentralization in the country. It envisages strengthening of urban bodies and
enabling them to function as effective institutions of self governance in their respective
jurisdictions.
Growth of Tirupati and Establishment of Tirupatl Municipality
Though Ramanuja named the settlement as Tirupati, it was popularly known as
Ramanujapuram. Two new hamlets known as Achyutaraya Puram and Srinivasa Puram sprang
up on the north, east and west of the temple respectively during the rule of Vijaya Nagar
Kings. The Tirupati village and the two hamlets Achyutaraya Puram and Srinivasa Puram
soon merged into a fairly big township. According to 2001 Census, the population of Tirupati
town constitutes 2.27 lakhs. The pilgrims and part of rural population is 0.83 lakhs. The total
population constitutes 3.10 lakhs occupying fourteenth place in A.P^^
Tirupati was constituted into a third grade municipality by the Government of Madras on
April 1, 1886, even though its population was less than 10,000. It is the biggest town in
Chittoor District. In 1901 it was a class V town, and it was upgraded into a class III town in
1 91 1 . It was upgraded as an Class llnd town during 1 962 and into Class I during 1 970, Again
it was upgraded into a Special Grade Municipality when it completed 1 00 years of service in
1 986. The jurisdiction of the Municipality is confined to the urban limits of Tirupati covering a
geographical area of 16:21 sq.km. Out of 36 wards of Tirupati town, 18 were specifically
resen/ed for weaker sections including two for women''^.
The Municipality is performing various functions like repair of roads, lighting, sanitation,
public health, conservancy, slum clearance, town planning, water supply for the entire tow,
primary and secondary education apart from looking after day-to-day aspects of the Municipal
Administration, Jhe Municipal income is derived mainly from taxation, construction, execution
of productive and non-productive works undertaken by the Municipality.
The long-term policy options for poverty alleviation at the town level, however, require a
lot of political commitment and institutional stability. The 74th Constitutional Amendment Act
1 992 not only restores the rightful place of the municipalities as democratic bodies, but also
empowers them to work for slum improvement and upgradation as well as urban poverty
alleviation and slum improvement in the XII Schedule of the 74th Constitutional Amendment
Act. It has now become a function of Municipality to take steps for bringing down the incidence
of urban poverty.
Urban Development Programmes Undertaken by Tirupati municipality
A number of urban development Programmes such as underground drainage system,
development of slum areas, improvement of waterworks, widening of roads and construction of
parks were undertaken by the Municipality. The Department for International Development
Urban Governance and Politics 519
(DFID) U.K. is also providing financial assistance to the Tirupatl Municipality for construction
of roads, drainage system and other infrastructural facilities.
Slum Improvement Project
The Tirupati Slum Improvement Project aims at an Integrated development of 31 identified
slums. The project envisages the provision of civic infrastructure as perthe prescribed standards,
improvement of health with emphasis on women and children, pre-school and adult education
and income-generation activities including training skills for the youth. The project is to be
executed as part of urban community development programme fully utilizing the execution
expertise of the functioning and integrating all the different functionaries viz. technical, health,
education, community development, slum leadership, NGO’s etc. under one executive
leadership thus affording scope for collective effort and feed back from micro to macro level^^.
The Tirupati Municipality has spent Rs.37.22 crores recently for Underground Drainage
Systems (U.D.S). For economically backward class’s welfare under l.L.C.S Scheme,
Rs. 147.268 lakhs have been spent for construction of modern latrines. In addition to this,
Rs.30 lakhs have been spent for construction of community latrines in Tirupati town and
handed over the ‘Sulabh’ (an N.G.O) for maintenance and operations. The Tirupati Municipality
is also getting financial assistance under Swarna Jayanthi Shehari Rojgar Yojana (S.J.S.R.Y)
and National Slum Development Programme (N.S.D.P) from both the Central and State
governments.
Water Supply
Tirupati is an important pilgrim centre in India. There are three major sources of protected
water supply to Tirupati town. The Kalyani Dam, which is situated at a distance of 25 kms
from Tirupati town, has a capacity to supply 30 lakh gallons of water per day. The Kalyani dam
was constructed in 1 978 with a total cost of Rs.560 lakhs. At present 29 lakh gallons of water
is being supplied to Tirupati town. 27 lakh gallons of water is being supplied to the town
through the existing old water scheme supply located at Mangalapuram pumping well and five
bore-welis at Kalyani filter bed fitted with 10 H.P motors and all other sources including 620
hard bores and 167 power bores cover 6312 H.S.C and 400 public fountains for the entire
population of this town, 75.00 lakh gallons of water is required for the town each day. Nearly 1/
3rd of the town is not covered with Kalyani water supply distribution system. For such areas,
water is supplied through bore-wells. In total, 56 lakh gallons of water is supplied to the town
daily both from Kalyani Dam source and from bore-wells as against 75 lakh gallons of water
required. To meet the growing demand for water supply due to Influx of pilgrims to Tirupati town
every day, Tirupati Municipality had undertaken new water supply scheme in 1 999 with a total
estimate cost of Rs.65-66 crores. Though Telugu Ganga canal, 75 lakh gallons of water is
pumped from Srikalahasti to Tirupati town everyday. The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams
(TTD) and Tirupati Municipality jointly financed this project. The TTD paid Rs.49.98 crores
towards the cost of this project.
The Indian Journal of Political Science 52o
Integrated Development of Small and Medium Towns (l.D.S.fVl.T)
The Government of India had launched in 1970s the IDMST Programme with the objective
to improve the infrastructural conditions and economic growth of these towns through out the
country by directing some of rural-urban migration to these smaller towns. However, the
difficulties faced by various state governments in producing good quality strategy plans have
shown that there is still a long way to go in the evolution of planned urban development Under
this scheme, the Tirupati Municipality constructed four shopping complexes, meat and fish
markets at cost of Rs.414.17 lakhs.
Public Health
For economy, efficiency and accountability, privatization of garbage collection was
undertaken by the Municipality from 7fh February, 1 997. onwards. The private contractor has
o undertake collection from all the garbage points in six zones of the town every day and he
must obtain signatures from the notified houses in token of clearance of garbage. This contract
system has proved efficient to clear off the balance of 55 metric tonnes of garbage and there
IS now visible improvement in the streets, lanes and by lanes. An amount of Rs. 1 .30 lakhs per
^ lakhs per annum was earmarked for this
purposs
Development of Roads
(TTD) had taken up 1 3 roads in Tirupati town for
eveiopment, such as widening the roads duly providing WBH &BT surface, in phasel of the
program, the widening of roads and providing WBH were taken up in April 1 996 and the same
wascomple, ed.AsumofRs.6crores was earmarkedfor, his purpose Theto^
mad works was estaated at Rs.l 0 crores which excludes the cos, of land acqui^dol The
TTD also completed 3 road projects of the R&B department as they were mainly meant for
pilgrims visiting Govindaraja Swamy temple and Padmavathi temple at Tiruchanur.
Widenim Development Authority and Tirupati Municipality took laying and
widening of the roads jointly in Tirupati. With regard to the development of road from TiLLur
A nZbem? undertaken by R&B department. Necessary funds were provided by the
(VAMBAYTvlluqTurLTR''"'?'”®'^^^
(CMEY) are implemented in Tirupati town by the Municipality. '^°uth
devetor^em ^ P^=P®utive and policy which would consider economic development with urban
r—
Urban Governance and Politics
The Tirupati Urban Development Authority
521
In order to solve the problems of urbanization of Tirupati town, the government of AP
had constituted Tirupati Urban Development Authority (TUDA) in 1982. Areas covered by
Tirupati Municipality and the Panchayats of Renigunta, Chandragiri and other nearby villages
have been brought under the purview of TUDA with the hope that it will solve the two important
problems viz. housing and water supply in Tirupati.
The jurisdiction of TUDA extends over an area of 848 sq.kms. TUDA executes
development works in Tirupati municipal area and 89 villages. The main objectives of TUDA
are as follows"'^;
1. Providing planned development for the citizens of Tirupati town and surroundings areas
and to develop Tirupati as a model town by fostering economic significance of pilgrim
town.
2. To nurture Tirupati town Into a commercial centre.
3. To develop Tirupati town with better hygienic facilities.
4. To improve educational facilities in TUDA area.
5. To make Tirupati urban area as a beautiful tourist spot.
An evaluation of TUDA since its inception reveals that due to insufficient funds the
development of Tirupati town and its surrounding areas have not improved substantially. Income
generation has to be further enhanced so that TUDA can develop on its own to take up more
developmental programmes.
The civic bodies of Tirupati could not do much to fulfill the requirements of citizens for
better civic amenities. It should be noted that all the developmental works which were begun
in the spheres of water supply, underground drainage system, road works and slum improvement
could not takeoff without the prior sanction and financial assistance of both Central and State
governments and Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams Board. It is rightly said that State government
gradually eroded the powers of Municipal governments by establishing parallel agencies like
Tirupati Urban Development Authority. The Municipality in Tirupati is unable to meet the day-
to-day growing demands from the citizens for better civic amenities. Added to these civic
problems the floating pilgrim population is adding to the civic problems by consuming the
basic civic amenities meant for the citizens of Tirupati. Since Tirupati town happened to be
one of the prominent pilgrim town in the country both the central and state governments
should come to the rescue of this town by granting special funds so that the civic authorities
could concentrate for better civic facilities to the local population and as well as to the visiting
pilgrims to this town.
The Indian Journal of Political Science
References :
522
1. Thompson, Waren, “Urbanization” in Seligmour, E.R.A. and Johnson, Alvin (Eds.),
Encyclopedia of social schemes, volume XV, Macmillan New York, 1 957, p. 1 89.
2. Avasthi, A., Municipal Administration in India Lakshmi Narayan Agarwal, Agra, 1 972,
p.60.
3. Dharmarajan, k., “Nagar Palika: Devolution in Letter Not Spirit”, Times of India, Mumbai,
May 4, 1998.
4. Rodney Jones, Urban Politics in India, Vikas Publishing House, Delhi, 1 977, p. 1 2.
5. Government of India , Census of India , 2001 .
6. Bhattacharya, Mohit., Decentralizing Experiment: A case study of Kolkata Municipal
Corporation in Amrita Singh (ed)., Administrative Reforms, Sage Publications, New
Delhi, 2005, p.80.
7. Smith, Brian, Decentralistaion: The Territorial Dimension of the State, George Allen
and Unwin, London, 1 985, p.20.
8. Central nod for National Urban Renewal Mission, Hindu, Chennai, November 23, 2005.
9. Decentralisation of Powers: AP likely to adopt ‘Kerala Model’, The New Indian Express,
Hyderabad, October 23,2006.
1 0. Jha, Gangadhar, “The Seventy Fourth Constitution Amendment and the Empowerment
of Municipal Government - a Critique, National Institute of Urban Affairs, New Delhi.
11. Choodamani, G., and D.Venkateswarulu, ‘Urbanisation in Tirupati Significant trends’,
Nagarlok, New Delhi, 2001 , p.49.
12. The Andhra Pradesh Municipalities Act 1965.
1 3. Andhra Pradesh Urban Services for Poor, Tirupati Municipality, 2003.
14. Administration Report of Tirupati Municipality for the year 2004>2005.
15. Administration Report of Tirupati Urban Development Authority for the year 1 982-83,
p.5.
The Indian Journal of Political Science
Vol. LXVIll, No. 3, July-Sept, 2007
ADMINISTRATIVE MACHINERY FOR CONSUMER’S INTEREST :
AN ANALYTICAL STUDY
Sansar Singh Janjua
Consumer is the focal point of all the activities. In fact, he is the very basis which
supports superstructure of all operations in the society. Consumer interest, therefore,
should receive first priority of all. As a citizen, as a taxpayer and as a buyer, the
consumer should have the right to expect that he will get the right type of goods and
right quality at the right time and at the right price. In practice, it is well known that the
consumer is not only the most ignored, the most harassed, the most suffered but also
most docile citizen. The consumer’s plight with regard to availability of items like
kerosene, sugar and cooking gas is so pitiable that he has resigned himself to his
“fate and classified himself as the unimportant person." On the one hand, there is often
repeated statement that “customer is always right" and the customer is the “KING". On
the other hand, the legal position of a buyer has been expressed in the famous
expression “caveat emptor" or “Let the buyer beware." Consumer protection may be
viewed from three angles. One is the physical protection of the consumer... measures
to protect consumers against products that are unsafe and endanger health. A second
aspect is the protection of the consumers economic interest... measures to protect
him against deceptive and other unfair trade practices and to provide adequate rights
and means of redress. A third and equally important aspect is the protection of public
interest against the abuse, the monopoly position and restrictive trade practices.
Consumer protection is nothing but with providing safeguard for the basic rights of
consumers. However, consumer protection is essential for a healthy economy because
this protection alone can give necessary strength to him in the market and restore the
balance in the buyer-seller relationship.
“A customer is the most important visitor in our premises. He is not dependent on us,
we are dependent on him. He is not an interruption in our work, he is the purpose of it. He is
not an outsider in our business, he is the part of it, we are not doing him a favour by serving
him, he is doing us a favour by giving us an opportunity to do so.”^ These words of Gandhiji
(1 934) stressed the importance of consumers to the producers and their activites involving
marketing of goods and services. Consumers, infact play a very significiant roie in the economic
development of a country. Infact, consumers are the pillers of the economy. Hence, every
business organisation is required to set its objectives keeping in view the socio-economic and
political structure of the society. The basic ideology of modern marketing is : do not sell what
you happen to make and feel convient to produce. Produce and make what the consumers
2
want .
The consumer movement in our country has been very weak, though endeavour has
been made by the Union Government as well as Governments of States to popularise it. Its
presence has been generally known but safely ignored by observers. Consumerism gives nev,/
emphasis to the Consumers Bill of Rights-The Magna-Carta of consumers, for instance
consumer has a right to full and correct information on prices, on quality of goods and on
costs and efficiency distribution. Importance of the consumer to the business has yet to be
realised fully. Business makes profit only when goods are consumed or services, utilised.
This presupposes consumers existence. Business is entirely dependent upon the consumer
The Indian Journal of Political Science
not only for its very survival but also for its growth.
In general, consumers are scattered over the whole country. They are highly disorganized
Individually, they have very weak bargaining power. They are not professional or shrewed
buyers. Besides, in India, they have an additional handicap, namely, majority of consumer’s
are illiterate, ignorant and usually lack information to make intelligent purchases.
Consumer movement is a social and economic movement to protect the interests of
consumers against the unfairtrade practices andotherforms of exploitation in matterof availability
quality, quantity and prices of goods and sendees. The growth of consumerism is the natural
ou come of the forces generated by industrial and technological revolution witnessed in the
eve oped countries. The impact of the consumer movement is not being felt in the developing
countries which are engaged in the task of achieving an accelerated rate of economic grovrth
and upsurge of consumerism. Industrialisation
and mass production resulting in production and marketing of a large variety of consumer
goods no doubt, delight the consumers but also have them confused about their choice in the
o^dth^
nreva Jr!r sovereignty over the market place has been eroded due to wide
SerTheT?'' ^
! oducte bm has c'^rf 00 ^oubt, brought in a stream of new
P ducts but has created information gaps for the consumers in regard to their qualitv
performance and utility. The problems are accentuated by the massive advertising campaigns’
new products which on many occasions confuse the consumers. The modern technoloav
and new marketing methods have been quite beneficial. But everything is not so oleasant and
consumers have h ^ unscrupulous practices. Consequently, the
rerurrhr?re!nrs?te"^^^^^^^
service available. ^ regards quality, price of products and
525
Administrative Machinery for Consumer's interest
Consumer is the focal point of all the activities. In fact, he is the very basis which
supports superstructure of all operations in the society. Consumer interest, therefore, should
receive first priority of all. As a citizen, as a taxpayer and as a buyer, the consumer should
have the right to expect that he will get the right type of goods and right quality at the right time
and at the right price. In practice, it is well known that the consumer is not only the most
ignored, the most harassed, the most suffered but also most docile citizen. The consumer’s
plight with regard to availability of items like kerosine, sugar and cooking gas is so pitiable
that he has resigned himself to his “fate and classified himself as the unimportant person." On
the one hand, there is oft repeated statement that “customer is always right” and the customer
is the “KING”. On the other hand , the legal position of a buyer has been expressed in the
famous expression “caveat emptor” or “Let the buyer beware.”
While the profit in any business is not a crime and it is essential for survival and growth,
illegal profit or profiteering through questionable means like product adulteration, fraud,
inflationary price practices like hoarding, speculation, black marketing and so on are considered
both anti-social and anti-national.
The list of instances and kinds of exploitation through malpractices adopted by
businessmen is a very long one. We may mention some of them to indicate the gravity of
consumer exploitation so as to prove the dire need of consumer protection and education ;
lack of safety regulation: food adulteration, short weights and measures, misuse of coloring
matter, limitation of manufacture, blatant misleading advertisement, conspicuous consumption;
hire purchase plans, advertisement tactics, sales gimmicks, evil practices of powerful
multinationals, massive profiteering, illegal trading etc.
The above types of malpractices and the consequent exploitation of consumer,
exploitation of consumer interest on a large scale will certainly indicate the, pressing, the
urgent need for consumer guidance in India. We find that consumer is a very unimportant
person in the market.
Consumer protection may be viewed from three angles. One is the physical protection
of the consumer... measures to protect consumers against products that are unsafe and
endanger health. A second aspect is the protection of the consumers economic interest...
measures to protect him against deceptive and other unfair trade practices and to provide
adequate rights and means of redress. A third and equally important aspect is the protection
of public interest against the abuse, the monopoly position and restrictive trade practices.
Consumer protection is nothing but providing safeguard for the basic rights of consumers.
However, consumer protection is essential for a healthy economy because this protection
alone can give neccessary strength to him in the market and restore the balance in the buyer-
seller relationship^. Considering the wants and needs of consumers, the consumer protection
measures should essentially be concerned with^.
The Indian Journal of Political Science
526
a) The protection from hazards to health and safety,
b) The promotion and protection of economic interests;
c) Access to adequate information;
d) Control of misleading advertisements and deceptive representation;
e) Consumer education; and
f) Effective consumer redressal.
The industrial and economic development witnessed during the last four decades has
transformed our economic and social scenario. Any Indian today can take pride in the rapid
economic progress that we have achieved. The quantitative growth in outputs in industrial and
agricultural sectors under planned economic development has been hailed as historic
development from the elite economists and sociologists all over the world.
The present economic and technological developments have, no doubt, made perceptible
social and economic changes but the consumer’s control over the market mechanism has
gradually diminished. Consumer’s sovereignty in choice of goods and services has been greatly
eroded by various forms of unfair, monopolistic and deceptive trade practices. Although there
are about 200 voluntary consumer organisations in the country and many of them are doing
immense service to promote consumer’s cause, their activities are concentrated in metropolitan
cities and towns. The movement is still in its infancy and at the grass roots level much more
alertness and activity are required.
Self-regulation in business in minimise the need for extensive government intervention.
The market profession can regulate its own behaviour and actions by self-discipline and by
raising ethical standards. Business community must read the writing on the walls and take
without delay, appropriate steps to regulate its conduct and cultivate self-discipline and self-
regulation in the large national interests. Let it be noted that this is not merely for protecting
the consumer interest but also for protecting the self-interest of the business community
itself. Enduring and positive improvements in business practices can be brought about by the
businessmen themselves and these changes should be based on the inner will or desire
rather than coming from the external force or discipline. Many trade associations have moved
positively to respond to growing consumer satisfaction. This response was due to increasing
threat of government regulation. Purely voluntary efforts of self-regulation by industry or trade
are not likely to be successful, because there are no sanctions in the form of some enforcement
machiriery. Moral sanction and moral responsibility or obligation may not be powerful for
enforcement If all the members of the trade association do not have a higher sense of discipline
and suitable temperament, self-regulation, self-control etc..
Chamber of Commerce and Trade Associations can play an effective role in self-
Administrative Machinery for Consumer's interest 527
regulations. Consumer protection is not there normal expected function. Hence, a new set of
associations has to be set up on behalf of trade to offer consumer guidance, consumer
education and consumer protection. In India, we have such an organisaton called Fair Trade
Practices Association for enforcing a mode of conduct in fair trading. Complaint handling
machinery may be entrusted to special institutions such as MRTPC. Such special bodies can
also evolve a code of conduct for fairtrade practices-a form of self regulation.
in the past, marketing legislation was by and large business-oriented not consumer-
oriented. Statutory regulation is the crudest form as well as last resort to secure a discipline
business conduct. Legislation give statutory protection to innocent and ill informed consumers
against unfair trade practices. For honest people self-regulation works well and legislation is
superfluous.
EARLY MEASURES
A number of consumer protection laws have been developed over the years to protect
various interests of consumer. These include Essential Commodities Act, Prevention of Food
Adulteration Act, Standards of Weights and Measures Act and MRTP Act. But these
arrangements have not led to growth of an effective consumer protection movement in the
country. Moreover, these laws are either preventive or punitive in approach and do not provide
speedy reliefs and compensations to the aggrieved consumers.
The procedures for bringing the culprits to book under the existing laws are also long-
drawn and cumbersome. Litigation is a costly affair which most consumers cannot afford. The
law of torts is not well developed in our present legal system. Besides, there is no common
platform for officials and non-officials for discussing the consumer’s problems and for advising
the Government on policies and measures needed to promote and protect the rights and
interests of the consumers.
Consumer protection entails protecting the rights and interests of the consumers in
matters of availability, quality, quantity and price of goods and services. Protecting the interests
of the consumers from unfair and deceptive trade practices is of paramount concern to society.
COMSUMERS' RIGHTS
Consumer should have the right to be protected against marketing of goods which are
hazardous to life and property. The right to be informed about the quality, quantity, potency,
purity, standard and price of goods and to be protected against unfairtrade practices is also
theirs. Consumers also have the right to be assured, wherever possible, access to a variety of
goods at competitive prices and also to be assured that consumers’ interests will receive due
consideration at appropriate forums. Redressal against unfair trade practices or unscrupulous
exploitation of consumers and proper consumer education must also figure in consumers’
rights.
528
The Indian Journal of Political Science
GOVERNMENT AND LEGISLATION
Government has accorded a high priority to consumer protection and ‘concern for
consumer’ is included in the 20-Point programme of 1986.0ur Prime Minister is very keen
about the development of a broad and effective consumer movement in the country. Considering
the need to provide speedy redressal to consumers’ grievances and to be aware of the
deficiencies in the existing administrative and legal arrangements, the Government introduced
the Consumer Protection Bill in 1986 Session of the Parliament. This Bill which received
overwhelming support from members of both the Houses, constituted a landmark in the social
and economic legislations of this country.
The salient features of the new consumer protection bill apply to all goods and services
and provide consumer protection in matters of any consumer complaint arising out of unfair
trade practice (other than of large industrial houses to be dealt by MRTP Commission), defective
goods and services, unreasonable prices charged in excess of statutory price or voluntarily
declared prices. Defective goods and defective services include any fault, imperfection or
shortcoming in the quality, quantity, potency, purity or standard.
NEW PROVISIONS
The Government is planning to set up Consumer Protection Councils in states
comprising, non-official and official members. These Councils will provide a platform for
discussion of consumer problems and would advise the concerned Central or State Government
on policies and programmes to promote and protect the rights and interests of the consumers.
The new legislation enshrines the rights of the consumer such as right to safety, right
to information, right to education and right to seek redressal. It is based on law of torts
providing reasonable compensation to the aggrieved consumers. It provides for redressal
machinery which will be available within the easy reach of the consumers.
The quasi-judicial machinery is a three-tier set- up at the district, state and national
levels. The District Consumer Redressal Forum will have powers to redress consumer
complaints in matter of unfair trade practices, defective goods and services upto a claim
amount of Rs. One Lakh. The State Commission can entertain consumer’s claim in excess of
Rs.one lakh and upto Rs. Ten lakhs. National Commission will have powers to award
compenstion for damages above Rs. Ten lakhs.
The State Commission and National Commission have been vested with appropriate
appellate and revisionary powers. To speed up justice to the consumers, only one appeal is
contemplated in the judicial set- up incorporated in the legislation.
To provide clout to the legislation, penal and punitive provisions have been incorporated.
Where the trader or manufacturer fails to carry out the orders of the District Forum, State
Commission or National Commission, he will be punishable with an imprisonment for a term
Administrative Machinery for Consumer's Interest 529
which shall not be less than one month but which may extend to three years or with a fine
which shall not be less than Rs. 2000 but which may extend to Rs. 10,000 or with both.
To provide speedy redressals, the procedures envisaged for the quasi-judicial machinery
are simple, inexpensive and time-bound. No fees have been prescribed forfiling of the complaints
before any redressal forum.
IMPLEMENTATION
The success of this legislation will depend on effective implementation of its provisions
by the Central and State Governments in letter and spirits. In addition, it will require support of
a strong broad-based consumer movement in the country, involvement of women and youth
and cooperation of trade and industry.
CONSUMER PROTECTION MOVEMENT IN PUNJAB.
At present there are 68 registered voluntary consumer organisations contributing their
efforts for the promotion and protection of consumer interests registered in the Punjab state .
In order to protect the interst of the consumers, the Government of Punjab is implementing the
provisions of Consumers Protection Act, 1 986. The Punjab Consumer Protection Rules, 1 987
have been notified in the State vide Notification dated Nov. 27.1 987. At the state level, Consumer
Disputes Redressal Commission has been functioning at Chandigarh since 1 991 . Here it is
worth mentioning that, in the state of Punjab, Consumer Protection Council was established
in the year 1 992 and remained working upto September 1 5,1 995. After that, it could not work
due to lack of funds.
The foregoing discussion shows that the Consumer Protection Act, 1986 has been
enacted to promote and protect the rights of the consumers. To provide speedy and simple
redressal to consumer disputes, a three-tier quasi-judicial machinery is sought to foe set-up at
the district. State and Central levels who are to observe the principles of natural justice and
have been empowered to give reliefs of a specific nature and to award whatever appropriate
compensation to the consumer. A milestone in the history of socio-economic legislations by
re-defining the legal relationship between consumers and suppliers or manufactures of good
and sen/ices, the new law is a major step forward in the direction of justice for the consumers
through an institutional arrangement which is easily available, speedy, (ess expensive redressal
of their grievances thus enabling them to seek compensation for damages in case of faulty
goods. The Madhya Pradesh Bill, 1984 the only comprehensive model Bill had an influence
over the Act. However, the infrastructure and functioning of agencies for settlement of consumer
disputes needs to be reformed so as to make them more effective.
Regarding the implementation of the Act, the redressal machinery has been made
functional only in fourteen states/ union territories. In this connection, it becomes necessary
that other states should make sincere efforts to implement the Consumer Protection Act by
530
The Indian Journal of Political Science
establishing district and state level redressal agencies without any further dalay.
It may be pointed out that each District Forum under Section 10 and the State
Commission under Section 16 is composed of three members only irrespective of the area
and population of the State concerned. For instance, states like Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan,
Madhya Pradesh and Maharastra having large areas and more population are having only
three-member forums at the district and state levels. Moreover, the members are required to
sit in single Bench. As a consequence it becomes difficult for them to Cope with thousands
and thousands of cases coming before them. In this connection, it is submitted that their
number should not be confined to three rather It should be increased to several members
keeping in view the population of the states including sufficient number of members qualified in
law. It is further submitted that the Commission should be allowed to sit in Benches and every
Bench should have a member qualified in law. The same can be applied to the structure of
sittings of the Commission at the National level under Section 20 which is presently composed
of only five members.
Regarding the procedure to be followed by the Redressal Agencies on receipt of
complaints which has been prescribed under Section 13(1) of the Act it may be noted that
under clauses (f) and (g) of this Section, any party can “dispute the correctness of the methods
of appropriate laboratory or analysis or test adopted by the appropriate laboratory by submitting
his objections in writing in regard to such a reporter analysis. Moreover, parties shall be given
a reasonable opportunity of being heard in this connection by the concerned Forum. Who is to
judge the correctness of this analysis ? The correctness of the test or analysis made by an
analyst or technical expert as such cannot be judged by the court which in other words,
means that the court needs to send the goods for analysis to some other laboratory etc. All
this may ultimately cause delay in the proceedings of these courts. In this connection, it is
submitted that in cases of complaints alleging defects in the goods which cannot be determined
without proper analysis or test of the goods, the sample of the goods should be sent for
testing or analysis to at least three laboratories simultaneously and the concurrence in the
two reports should be taken as final and no party should be given an opportunity to raise
objection against it so as to avoid any delay in the disposal of consumer disputes.
Moreover, the provision for payment of any fees on the part of the consumers for
laboratory test or analysis (Section 1 3 (d)) should be deleted so as to allow the consumers to
bring their complaints and get redress without incurring any extra financial burden at all.
Under the Consumer Protection Act only four reliefs of a specific nature are mentiohed
in Section 1 4 which can be granted by the Redressal Forums through an order namely removal
of defect pointed out by the appropriate laboratory, replacement of defective goods with new
goods of similar description, return the price or charges paid by the complainant or payment
of compensation. The agencies, however, as have been rightly pointed out have no power to
make an order for banning the goods which-can be dangerous to health and life. These courts
Administrative Machinery for Consumer's Interest 531
should be empowered to make an order in this regard too, by inserting a clause to this effect
under Section 14.
It is one of the rights of the consumers to seek redressal against unfairtrade
practices or unscrupulous exploitation of consumers by any trader by making an allegation
in the complaint of loss or damage as a result of such practice, as have been mentioned
under Section 2(c) of the Act. The expression unfair trade practice has-been given the same
meaning as in Section 36- A of the Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Act of 1 969
but shall not include an unfair trade practice adopted by the owner of an undertaking to
which Part A of Chapter ill of that Act applies or by any person acting on behalf or for the
benefit of, such owner. It means a trade practice which for the purpose of promoting the
sale, useorsupply of any goodsorforthe provision of any services, adopts one or more
of the practices prescribed and thereby causes loss or injury to the consumers of such
goods or services, whether by eliminating or restricting competition or otherwise. Thus, such
a practice should be one or more of those listed under Section 36-A. Moreover, under
Section 36-D of the same Act, theMRTP Commission may inquire into any trade practice
which may come before it for inquiry and if it is of the opinion that the practice is
prejudicial to the public interest or to the interest of any consumer or consumers generally,
it may by order direct that (a) the practice shall be discontinued or shall not be repeated, and
(b) any agreement relating to such unfairtrade practice shall be void or shall stand modified in
respect thereof in such manner as may be specified in the order.
The redressal agencies under the Consumer Protection Act have neither any authority
to make an order for discontinuance or non-repetition of an unfairtrade practice nor to make
such order for grant of damage with respect to a practice not coming under the exhaustive
definition but which may become necessary as a result of technological advancements.
Therefore, it is submitted that such powers should be conferred on the Consumer Dispute
Settlement bodies by inserting more clauses in relevant Section 1 4 (1) of the Act or otherwise.
As regards the functioning of the Redressal Machinery it has been reported 28 that
whatever courts have been set-up under the Act, seem to be reluctant in awarding damages to
consumers even after concluding that the consumer has been cheated or befooled 29. In other
cases courts generally reserve their judgements and do not fix any date of pronouncement of
decision This deprives the consumer of the limitation period for final appeal against such
orders.” Therefore, it is need of the hour that the consumer redressal agencies should function
in such a way as to help the consumers in putting forth their complaints before them Instead
of losing their faith in that regard.
Any person aggrieved by an order of the National Consumer Redressal Commission
can prefer an appeal to the Supreme Court under Section 23 within a period of 30 days or after
that in case of a sufficient cause being shown to the satisfaction of the Supreme Court. Thus
appeal to the Supreme Court is unrestricted. However, it should be restricted and appeal to
The Indian Journal of Political Science 532
the Supreme Court should be made as it is made in civil suits from High Court to the Supreme
Court. In other words, it should be allowed only if the National Commission certifies that the
case is a fit one to be decided by the Supreme Court involving a substantial questjon of law of
general importance. The provision in this direction should be inserted in the Act.
SUGGESTIONS
On the basis of above findings the following suggestions are made.
a) No organisation can function smoothly and efficiently without funds. The consumer
forums have suffered a lot on this account and need sufficient funds from the Government to
meet their day to day requirements. The Governments should provide the basic facilities like
proper accommodation to run the office, good furniture, an effective library etc, to all the forums.
b) In order to speed up the disposal of complaints, The CDRAs should stricktiy adhere
to the provisions of Consumer Protection Act while allowing an adjournment.
c) The analysis reveals that a large number of respondents filed their complaints in
consumer courts through advocates. However, under the law it is not necessary to engage an
advocates. It is, therefore suggested that people must be motivated and educated about the
procedure to file their complaints in District forum. Further, the act should be so ammended
where the Complaintant does not engage an advocate, the opposite party would cause to have
the services of a counsel.lt is suggested that to contest consumer cases free of charge, more
Consumer Legal Aid Cells are needed in the direction of consumer justice to secure redressal
of consumer grievances.
REFERENCES
1. Sharma Chander Kant, “ Role of Consumer organisation in Consumer protection
Kanishka publishers, 1995, Delhi, P. 24
2 . Asha Bajaj “Consumerism in Haryana with special reference to the role of Diffrent
interst Groups”, Phd Thesis, submitted to the MD. University, Rohtak, P.1
3. G.N.Sahu, Consumerproblems in India, Indian Journal of marketing, May. 2000
' pp.3-4.
4. S. B. Sadars & Fudzale, T.U”, Introspection of Consumer movement in India.” Indian
Journal of marketing, Feb. 2000 P. 24
5. Narinder Kumar and Batra,” Consumer Rights, Awareness and Action in Small Cities
Indian Journal of marketing, Vol. 21 No. 4 Sep. Dec. 1990
6. United Nation General Assembly, “ Consumer protection, Resolution No. 39/248. April
9.. . ' '
7. Unpublished Records from Punjab State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission
Chandigarh, 2004.
The Indian Journal of Political Science
Vol. LXVIII, No. 3, July-Sept., 2007
ROLE OF NOM-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANISATIONS
FOR TRIBAL DEVELOPMENT AND SOCIAL WELFARE
Jayanta Krishna Sarmah
The role of voluntary agencies in tribal development is assuming importance because of
their special qualities like innovativeness, committed agency workers for effective
implementation, flexibility in approach to suit local conditions, close contact with local
people, high level of motivation and minimum procedural practices. The present study
focuses on efficiency and effectiveness of the voluntary agencies in the state of Assam.
It reveals the involvement of various types of voluntary action towards empowerment of
women, issues of livelihood, health, legal aid credit facilities, vocational trainings etc.
Social Welfare has its roots in voluntary action and had been sustained from several
centuries in the past up to the present. Non-governmental voluntary organizations are apt ones
to mobilize villagers inclined for constructive work. They are best suited to channelise their spare
time and energy and by doing so, they foster the growth of leadership at various levels of the rural
society. Also, they are more capable of bringing in their work the ‘human touch' that follows from
a less formal but equally effective approach. As these organizations develop and show increasing
competence in assuming larger responsibilities, they become qualified and fit for some additional
functions which at present are vested in regular bureaucracy. For this reason, they are at a great
advantage in securing popular support for their cause and public participation in their programmes.
Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) are sometimes supposed to be potentially
superior to official agencies in three respects; (a) their workers can be more sincerely devoted to
the task of reducing the sufferings of the poor than the government staff; (b) they can have a
better rapport with the rural poor than government employees; and (c) since voluntary organizations
are not bound by rigid bureaucratic rules and procedures, they can readjust their activities
quickly and continuously as they learn from experience."' Besides, they have a considerable
background of experience, and conduct of welfare programmes can react more quickly to changing
social needs than can be expected of official machinery.
The closest possible collaboration between NGOs and Government is absolutely
essential. Regarding the relation between State and voluntary action in the field of social welfare,
the Report on Charitable Trusts published by the British Government says ; State action and
voluntary action were not the antithesis of each other; rather they sprang from the same roots,
were designed to meet the same needs and had the same motivating force behind them. Indeed,
historically, the state action is voluntary action crystallized and made universal. An analysis of
public welfare action at any time would reveal mixed motives, some genuinely humanitarian,
some inspired by cupidity or self arrangement. But neither in the historical record nor In an
examination of their motives would there be discovered the making of a fundamental distinction
The Indian Journal of Political Science
between state action for public welfare and voluntary action for the same purpose/
534
The word Voluntary’ does not suggest total absence of state control. Voluntary
organizations have necessarily to operate within the framework of laws enacted by the State.
They, for instance, have to comply with the Societies Registration Act, Foreign Contribution
(Regulation) Act, Income Tax Act, Industrial Dispute Act, Labour Laws etc. Their accounts are
subject to audit and the Government has power to investigate any foreign assistance to voluntary
organizations. According to Lord Beveridge, a voluntary organization, properly speaking, is an
organization which, whether its workers are paid or unpaid, is initiated and governed by its own
members without external control.^ Definitions given by Mary Morris and Modeline Roff are also
similar. The only addition, Modeline Roff makes is that these voluntary organizations should
depend in part at least, upon finding support from voluntary resources."*
Michael Banton defines voluntary organization as a group organized for the pursuit of
one interest or several interests in common.® In the words of David L. Sills, voluntary organization
is a group of persons organized on the basis of voluntary membership without state control for
the furtherance of some common interests of its members.® Attempting a comprehensive definition
of voluntary organization, Prof. M.R. Inamdar observes: A voluntary organization in development
to be of durable use to the community has to nurse a strong desire and impulse for community
development among its members, to be economically viable to possess dedicated and hard
working leadership and command resources of expertise in the functions undertaken. Norman
Johnson in his examination of various definitions of voluntary social services points out four main
characteristics: (i) Method of formation, which is voluntary on the part of a group of people, (ii)
Method of government, with self-governing organization to decide on its constitution, its servicing,
its policy, and its clients, (iii) Method of financing, with at least some of its revenues drawn from ^
voluntary services; and (iv) Motives with the pursuit of profit included.’'
Studies made by Choudhury (1 971)®, Latitha{1 975)® and Mukherjee(1 979)*® shows that
a significant change has taken place in the structure of voluntary action. In earlier times most of
the volunteers were unpaid, but now they are gradually being replaced by professional and paid
worker. For the full time given to voluntary work the workers have to earn a living to maintain
themselves and their families. The work too, demands sustained attention of qualified personnel.
Studies also show that workers in voluntary organizations in many cases function as multipurpose
functionaries largely due to inadequate personnel and material resources. Consequently, they
are often found doing work unrelated to their educational and professional competence.
India has a glorious tradition of organizing voluntary workJor social good. As a matter of
fact, the history and development of social welfare in India prior to independence is primarily the
Role of Non-Governmental Organisations 535
history of voluntary action. The roots of voluntarism in India can be traced to the nature, social
milieu and ethos of Indian people who believe in acts of charity rendering help to the people in
distress caused by natural calamities, rural poverty, exploitation and denial of social justice.
The tribals were isolated in India under British rule. It was never a matter of concern for
the colonial administration to enable them to take advantage of the technological order of the
modern civilization. During that time, it was the exclusive burden of the non-official agencies to
look after the welfare of the economically, socially and politically backward tribal communities.
Under the impact of Gandhian age, a very prominent member of the Servants of India
Society, Thakkar Bapa laid foundation of an Ashram at Dohad in Gujrat (then a part of the old
Bombay Presidency) in 1921. By single minded devotion and hard work, he established 21
institutions in various parts of the country including two institutions in Assam.'' ^ Besides, it had
62 other affiliated or recognized bodies five of which were working in Assam. After independence,
several such organizations have been formed in the tribal areas of different states which are
working for the tribal development with the financial assistance of the government and public
donations. Among these organizations, the most important is Bharatiya Adimjati Sevak Sangha,
which was set up in 1948 on the initiative of Thakkar Bapa and was registered in 1949. Its
objective was : The development of tribal communities in India — socially, economically, culturally
and educationally, with a view to enable those to take their legitimate place in national life of the
country as equal citizens.''^
Article 19 (1){c) of the Constitution of India confers on the Indian citizens the 'right to
form associations’. Freedom of association is rightly regarded as taking high rank among the
liberties of man. It is the liberty of the widest scope, for man may wish to associate for any
purpose which two or more of them may have in common. They may wish to associate to do
something together, or to get something done to further their own or other people’s interest, to
resist oppression or injustice or to practice either to pursue great or small, general or public
object.""^
It was only after 1 947 that voluntary organizations had anything to do with the Government.
The Government, on its part, not only started operating some programmes of social welfare
directly, but also started a programme of financial assistance to voluntary organizations. A
provision of Rs. 4 crore was made in the First Five Year Plan for assistance to voluntary
organizations as they were found to be ‘capable of dealing with social problems for which the
State cannot provide in sufficient measures.’^''
in the successive Five Year Plans the importance of the role of voluntary organizations
for successful implementation of plans was reiterated. Discussing people’s participation on an
The Indian Journal of Political Science
536
ideological level, plan document found it necessary to give it a concrete shape and observed; In
the activities in which official agencies are engaged, there is a large sphere in which the co-
operation of the people can be sought and secured to achieve a degree of success which would
otherwise not be possible. These tasks should be identified precisely and the obligations and
responsibilities of the people in relation thereto made known clearly. The concept of public co-
operation is related in its wider aspect to the much larger sphere of voluntary action in which the
initiative and organizational responsibility rests completely with the people and their leaders. So
vast are unsatisfied needs of the people that all the investments in the public and private sectors
together can, at this stage, only make a limited provision for them."'®
To deal with the voluntary organizations, different bodies are constituted in India. The
Ministry of Rural Development set up a body to deal with voluntary organizations: The Council for
Advancement of People’s Action and Rural Technology (CAPART). The CAPART was set-up in
1986 by merging two existing organizations, namely People’s Action for Development (India)
and the Council for Advancement of Rural Technology. The CAPART channalizes funds to the
voluntary organizations for implementing rural development programmes, and to this end a
portion of the funds available under different anti-poverty programmes, like Integrated Rural
Development Programme, Rural Landless Employment Generation Programme, National Rural
Employment Programme, Development of Women and Children in Rural Areas, Accelerated
Rural Water Supply Programme and Low Cost Sanitation is made available to CAPART for use
by the voluntary organizations.
More specifically, the CAPART has been established ‘to encourage, promote and assist
voluntary action in the implementation of projects for enhancement of rural prosperity and to
strengthen and promote voluntary efforts in rural development with focus on injecting new
technological inputs in this belief.''®
in 1953, The Central Social Welfare Board (CSWB) was established under the
chairmanship of Durgabai Deshmukh, the then member of Planning Commission. The CSWB
provides support to NGOs under variety of programmes in order to facilitate and strengthen their
role in empowering women through education and training, through collective mobilization and
awareness creation, through income generating facilities and by the provision of support services.
The Assam State Social Welfare Advisory Board (ASSWAB) was set-up by the
Government of Assam, in June 1 954 by way of concurrence between the CSWB and the State
Government. It is a state level organization for the management and implementation of
programmes sponsored by the CSWB.
I
Role of Non-Governmerita! Organisations 537
The CSWB and ASSWAB have prepared some conditions for an applicant NGO to be
eligible for grants under the CSWB programmes. At the time of sending applications to the
ASSWAB, the voluntary organizations are to be registered under an appropriate Act or to be
regularly constituted branch of a registered welfare organization. No organization is eligible for
grants from the board under any scheme without completing at least two years after registration.
In case of the scheme of Family Counseling Centers, completion of three years after registration
is necessarily required. Relaxation may however, be made (i) in case of institutions in hilly,
remote, border, backward and tribal areas, (ii) in case, where the need for starting services are
not available, and (iii) in case, where the need for starting a new service is recognized.
The applicant voluntary organizations are required to constitute Managing Committee
with clearly defined powers, duties and responsibilities and written Constitution of it. To intimate
the activity for which the grant is required the voluntary organizations must accumulate proper
facilities, resources, personnel, managerial skill and experience. The financial position of the
voluntary organizations is looked into before allotting the grant. The financial position of the
organizations must be sound and the activities of the institutions must be opened to ail citizens
of India without distinction of religion, race, cast or language. Besides, the voluntary organizations
must submit separate accounts audited and bearing the sea! of a Chartered Accountant, in
respect of grants sanctioned and released by the CSWB in three forms i.e. Receipt and Payment,
Income and Expenditure and Balance Sheet along with utilization certificate. These could be
submitted within six months of the closure of the financial year to which the grants are sanctioned
or released.''®
The CSWP assists the voluntary organizations for seven different kinds of schemes.
These are Condensed Courses of Education for women, the Vocational T raining Programme for
women. Awareness Generation Programme, family Counselling Centers, Working Women’s’
Hostel, Creche Units and Socio-Economic Programmes.
Condensed Courses of Education for women is the scheme which aims at facilitating
social and economic empowerment of women by providing them education and relevant skills.
The scheme is specifically designed to help dropouts and failed candidates to complete their
school education. Under this scheme, courses can be organized for women of the age of 1 5
years and above. In Assam, the women are provided two year non-residential educational courses
to enable them to appear for recognized primary, middle, metric, higher secondary or equivalent
examination as private candidates. A scheme for skill development is also provided for this
programme of assistance. Besides, one year non-residential education course for women is
also conducted for women who have failed in High School Leaving Certificate Examination as
private candidates. A number of voluntary organizations are working in this field in Dhemaji,
The Indian Journal of Political Science
Lakhimpur and Sonitpur District {Table-1 .01),"'®
538
Table 1.01
VOLUNTARY ORGANISATIONS CONDUCTING CONDENSED COURSE OF EDUCATION
FOR WOMEN IN DHEMAJI, LAKHIMPUR AND SONITPUR DISTRICT
Voluntary Organization
Address
Level
No.2-Bajyantipur Samaj Kalyan ,
P.O. Jairampur.Dist.Dhemaji.
M.E.
Samiti
Level
Paiibari Samoguri Nabajyoti
P.O. Panbari.Dist.Lakhimpur
M.E.
Sangha
Level
Lakhimpur Sishu Aru Matrimangal
Millan Nagar.Dist. Lakhimpur
M.E.
Samiti
Level
No.2- Napam MaulgaonYubak
No.2Mautgaon,P.O.Saraimaria,
H.S.L.C.
Sangha and Ramkrishna
Lakhimpur
Level
Puthibharal
Bhakatnala Samuguri Miri Yubak
P.O- Kadamguri, Dist.Dhemaji
M.E.
Sanga
Level
Pragati Yubak Kendra
Vill-GosainPukhuri,AdiAlengi
M.E.
Satra.Dist. Lakhimpur
Level
Sairaari Kacharigaon Abhijan
P.O.Deori Barbam. Dist.Dhemaji
M.E.
Sangha
Level
No.l BaijayantipurRaisumai
P.O.Kadamguri, Dist.Dhemaji
L.P.
Yubak Sangha
Level
Lakukijan Surujmukhi Mahila
Vill;Lakukijan,P.O.Jairampur,
.M.E.
Samiti
Dist.Dhemaji
Level
No.l Dharamapur Daiiun Yubak
ViIl&P.6.Dharamapur,
M.E.
Sangha
Dist.Dhenniaji
Level
SOURCE: File Document. Asssam State Social Welfare Advisory Board. Guwahati.
Role ©I Non-Governmerital Organisations
539
It is observed that most of the voluntary organizations prefer to take M.E. level courses
only. Most of them take financial help only for one or two financial years and discontinue their
programme. Again new voluntary organizations come forward to conduct the programme. The
voluntary organizations discontinue the programme not because of unavailability of needy
people but due to inappropriate maintenance of audit and accounts by the organizations.
The Vocational Training Programme for women is formulated for vocational training of
needy women in the age group of 1 5 years and above. The Advisory Board provides assistance
to the voluntary organizations having requisite capability, experience and infrastructure to
conduct this programme. The vocational courses are divided into Seven distinct categories^®:
a) Commerce and Business related Vocations, b) Engineering based Vocations, c) Textile
Vocations, d) Chemical Based Vocations, e) Home Science Related Vocations, f)Para Medical
Vocations, g) Miscellaneous Vocations.
In Assam, the duration of the course can vary between one to two years. Training
programmes of less than one year duration can also be considered. Preference is given to
destitute women, widows, women belonging to weaker sections, specially those belonging to
Scheduled Tribes and backward classes. A number of voluntary organizations of Missing
populated areas are engaged in these programmes.^^
Broad based voluntary organizations can avail of grants from the CSWB and ASSWB
to assist women beneficiaries to set up agro based units like Dairy, Poultry, Piggery, Goat
Rearing and Weaving. The applicant organizations should be exclusively women organization
with a membership of at least 20 women. A grant of up to Rs. 3 lakh can be provided to
facilitate the setting up of a production unit by the grantee institution. The institution also
requires contributing a limit of 1 5 percent of the project cost. A number of voluntary organizations
of Missing populated areas are conducting these programmes (Table; 1 .02).
The Indian Journal of Political Science
540
Table: 1.02
VOLUNTARY ORGANISATIONS CONDUCTING AGRO-B ASED SOCIO ECONOMIC
PROGRAMMES IN THE MISSING POPULATED AREAS
Voluntary Organisation
Address with District
Scheme
Kalyan Jydti Mahila Samiti
Vill:Khoga,Tinikhuti, DistLakhimpur
Piggery
Jyoti Millan Kendra
P.O. Sandahkhowa, DistLakhimpur
Poultry / Press
Noikosh Mahila Samiti
P.O. Machkhowa, Dist:Lakhimpur
Handloom
SrimantaSan/farafei/SamajKalyanKendra
P.O.LikhakChapari,Dist;Lakhimpur
Handloom
Milita Mahila Samiti
P.O.Dikrong, Dist:Lakhimpur •
Handloom
Prakritik Chikitcha Kendra Aru
Vill- Maghowa, P.O.-Padampur,
Handloom
Bhagawat Ashram
Dist:Lakhimpur
Dakhin-PubNarayanpurSanmilita Silpi Sangha
P.O.panbari, Dist.lakhimpur
Dairy
Sarbodaya Samaj Kalyan Samiti
P.O.Machkhowa, DistLakhimpur
Dairy
Behali Samaj Kalyan Sangha
P. O.Gangmouthan, Dist Sonitpur
Mahila Mandal
Batiamari Mahila Mandal
P. O.Batiamari, Dist:Sonitpur
Mahila Mandal
Source: File Document, Assam State Social Welfare Advisory Board.
Most of the voluntary organizations working In Missing dominated areas are small
women and youth organizations. Their area of jurisdiction is also a limited one.
Under such background the role of Tezpur District Mahila Samiti has to be looked into
which has become an influencing force in assisting rural and tribal women over the last eight
decades of its existence. The Tezpure District Mahila Samiti (TDMS) was established in 1928
in Tezpur of Sonitpur District. Adhering to Gandhian ideology, it works towards self-reliance. In
1 947, Tezpur Mahila Samiti extended its organizational activities, federating a large number of
primary or village Mahila Samitis under It. As a federation of almost 1 00 rural and tribal mahila
samitis, there is total membership of 1 0,000 women under TDMS.
The primary objectives of TDMS are to empower women among primary Mahila Samitis
around issues of livelihood, health, legal aid, and credit facilities. The entire decade of the 80s
Ro8e of Non-Governmental Organisations 541
and 90s of TDMS was invested on high quality training to women of tribal and rural mahila
samitis in order to revitalize their organizational capabilities and knowledge base.
For TDMS, facilitating economic empowerment of its members has always been a
priority, either through micro-enterprise or a group enterprise. The women members in the
villages, mostly engaged in self-employment or agricultural labour have been supported through
activities like handloom weaving, sericulture and legal counseling. A group enterprise was
established through the research-cum-training centre. TDMS has developed a Health Unit to
work on reproductive health issues. By the end of February 2000, five health centres were
established with communities support in Patgaon, Silonighat, Gorbil, Bamunipam and Bardikrai.
All these five are Missing villages in Sonitpur District. The objectives of the Health Unit includes —
(a) to make people aware of the importance of reproductive health, (b) to generate awareness
and adopt suitable measures to safeguard the health of new born babies, (c) to motivate
people to adopt correct contraceptive methods to curb population and accept small family
concept, (d) to generate gender awareness, and (e) to enhance qualitative and quantitative
use of health services from Public Health Centers. With these objectives, its awareness
meetings have already covered the topics like malaria, water borne disease, hygiene sanitation
and reproductive health.
The Legal Aid Ceil of TDMS, established in 1992 with a grant form the global fund for
women (USA), continues to impart legal aid and counselling. The success of earlier Interaction
and initiatives led to the selection of TDMS as the implementing agency for the project ™
Legal Literacy, Legal Aid and Education on Rights. The one year project was funded to the
tune of over 3.2 lakh.^^ The project aimed to generate legal capacity at the grassroots level,
increase public awareness, sensitize authorities responsible for administration of justice. It
sought to network among community and women social workers and the genera! public with
the intention of creating a human approach to crimes against women. The foremost importance
of the project was the desire to create an effective climate for the promotion of legal rights of
women and their protection against violence and abuse. The numbers of cases registered in
the TDMS Legal Cell are as follows (Chart I)
1995 ...
...60 Cases
1996 ...
...56 Cases
1997 ...
...69 Cases
1998 ...
...68 Cases
1999 ...
...38 Cases
The Indian Joyrnal of Political Science
542
2000
...130Cases
2001 ...
...141 Cases
2002 ...
... 83Cases
2003 ...'
...102Cases
2004
...151 Cases
2005
...213CasGs
2006
...200Cases
2007(Upto June) ...
...98Cases
Chart-I : Year wise registration of cases in Legal Aid Cell, TOMS { 1 995- 2007)
Women's Thrift and Credit co-operative Society, popularly known as the Mahila Sanchay
Samabay (MSS), is a project run successfully by TOMS. The fundamental concept of MSS is
that money raised by women themselves will then be available for them to use as loans,
income generation and add to asset creation in their names which is rare in traditional
economy. The main objective of MSS is to increase women's participation in economic
activities through which a change could be brought into their living pattern, economic status,
literacy rate and health standard. It was expected that women's progress would lead to progress
for the family and the community. Another objective of the MSS is to minimize the power of
money lenders. The long term goal is to raise women of weaker sections into autonomous and
bankable individuals.
Each MSS has a president, secretary and book-keeper constituting its committee
They have been trained by theTDMSteamto handle its committee. Most MSS have onesub
Role of Nori-Goverrimental Organisations 543
group for every 1 0 members (smaller groups have 5 members) with a leader (Dal Netri) for this
sub-group, selected by its members. In many villages, committee members and members of
the Primary Rural Mahila Samitis affiliated to TDMS are Committee members and members of
the MSS as well. The MSS meets every month on a pre-determined day between 2 and 1 2 of
the month, without fail.^^ The pattern is repeated so that it is easier for the women to remember
the date of meeting. The place of meeting is normally the ‘Naamghar’, but it is not uncommon
to see meetings being held in the courtyard of homes of functionaries and even in the open
under the shade of trees. Ninety percent of the members across the 20 MSS are constituted
by women between the ages of 30 to 70 years and only 10 percent are constituted by those
below 30 years.^®
Members are increasing at a rapid rate within certain MSS such as Bordubia, Balikhuti,
Gerua, and T umuki. For the convenience of book-keeping, members in these villages have been
divided under two groups. While in Bordubia, there are two sets of functionaries for the two
groups, in other villages the president of the MSS, secretary and book-keeper are same for both
the groups. Membership of the MSS is to be restricted only to those below the poverty line.
The numbers of members of all the 20 MSS with total fund in the villages as of March
31 , 1 998 are seen in the following list. (Table - 1 .03)
Table: 1.03
MAHILA SANCHAY SAMABAY (MSS) VILLAGES UNDER TDMS, THE NUMBER OF
MEMBERS AND TOTAL FUND (In Rs: AS OF June, 2007)
Source: File Document, TDMS, August, 2007
SI.
No.
SaiJchy-
Bharai
Village
IVIcinb
Savings
Surplus
Fund
Loan
l)i.stribu<
ed
Loan
Return
Loan
Outstunding
1
Pub Sotia
Sotia
165
48800
47974
101798
167800
163250
4550
2
Purbajyoti
Kasarigaon
114
20680
4823
25585
23200
14200
9000
3
Amarjyoti
Khanaguri
197
120000
216890
344623
887950
876400
11500
4
Manaka
Ranga Pukhuri
168
96440
33300
129750
176350
132700
! 43650
5~
Charigaon
Jamuguri
“50
6950
'm
7440
7450
3025
I 4425'
6
Srijani 1
Singri
350
177450
214799
394585
907025
693055
! 213970
7
; Sarojani
Singri
300
151530
183139
334520
396630
736659'
' 199971
8'““:
1 Mother Taraiaj
Gharjuli
1' ^ . ■ J
1 7¥“~
7380
76
7456
6000 i
400'
I 5600
I
The Indian Journal of Political Science
544
Being exclusively for women, the MSS are truly catering to their needs and long standing
desire of ‘owing what they were never expected to own’, in brief, the MSS is a support to
women’s group in rural and tribal villages of Sonitpur District. The main advantage of the MSS
is in its democratic framework where women take loans with minima! interest rates. Decisions
are taken together with the knowledge of all members present in the gathering. Different
NGOs from North Eastern states such as Naga Mother Association, Tripura Avivasi Mahila
Samiti; New Mandal Mahila Samiti, Meghalaya; Rural Service Agency, Manipur; Prantik Mahila
Unnayan Kendra, North Lakhimpur, Assam are seeking TDMS’s help for training on thrift and
credit. Its thrift and credit programme is gradually acquiring importance locally and regionally.
In this situation, a significant argument in favour of voluntarism is the fact that it makes
moral hazard easier to overcome; decentralized agents delivering welfare are more likely to
have knowledge of the circumstances in which welfare problems arise and be more alert to
abuses of the system. This consideration would apply whether the welfare is delivered privately
or publicly.^^ Every piece of social policy substitutes for some traditional arrangement ... in
which public authorities take over, at least in part, the role of the family, the ethnic and
neighbourhood group, of voluntary associations.^®
Thus, it is sure that the role of voluntary agencies in tribal development and social
welfare is indubitably important because of their special qualities like innovativeness, committed
agency workers for effective implementation, flexibility in approach to suit local conditions,
close contact with local people, high level of motivation and minimum procedural practices. A
number of voluntary organizations which are working in Assam has been setting up examples
in this direction.
References:
1 . Raj Krishna, It Would Just Be a Futile Exercise, Yojana, Vol.28, No. 20 and 21 , November,
. 1984, p.7.
2. Report on Charitable T rusts, British Government, December, 1 952; quoted from Plans
and Prospects of Social Welfare in India, A Planning Commission Document, Government
of India, 1974, p,4.
3. Beveridge William, Voluntary Action in a Changing World, National Council of Social
Services, Bedford Square Press, London, 1979, p.100.
4. Kulkarni V.M., Voluntary Action in Developing Society, Indian Institute of Public
Administration, New Delhi, 1969, p.8
Role of Non-Govemmental Organisations 545
5. Banton Michael, Anthropological Aspects, Voluntary Associations, in David L. Sills
(ed.) International Encyclopedia of Social Sciences, Vol.16, The Macmillan Co & the
Free Press, New York, 1968, p.358.
6. ibid. Pp.362-363.
7. Johnson Norman, Voluntary Social Services, Basit Blackwell and Mortin Robertson,
Oxford, 1981, p.1 4.
8. Choudhury, D.P., Voluntary Social Welfare in India, Delhi, 1 971 .
9. Lalitha, N.V., Voluntary Work in India: A Study of Volunteers in Welfare Agencies,
National Institute of Public Co-operation and Child Development, New Delhi, 1 975.
10. Mukherjee, K.K., A Studyof Voluntary Organizations in Rural Development, Voluntary
Action, July-August, Vol.XXI, No.7-8, p-30.
11. Dhebar, U.N., Report of the Scheduled Areas and Scheduled Tribe Commission,
Government of India Press, New Delhi, 1 961 .
12. ibid.p.304.
13. Banton Michael, Anthropological Aspects: Voluntary Association, in David, L.Sills (ed),
International Encyclopedia of Social Sciences, Vol.16, The Macmillan Co.& the Free
Press, New York, 1968, p.358.
14. Deo, J.M., Voluntary Agencies vis-a-vis Government, Yojana,Vol.31, No.4, March1-6,
1987, p-1 2.
1 5. Sarkar, B., They Do Have a Role to Play, Yojana, Vol.28, No.20-21 , November, 1 984,
p.49.
16. Annual Report, Department of Rural Development, Government of India, 1996-97.
17. Schemes of Assistance: Assam State Social Welfare Advisory Board, published by
Anjali Acharya, Chairperson, ASSWAB, 2000, p.9.
18. ibid., p.1 0
19. File Documents, Condensed Course of Education for Adult Women Section, Assam
State Social Welfare Advisory Board, Guwahati.
20. Schemes of Assistance: Assam State Social Welfare Advisory Board, Published by
Anjali Acharya, Chairperson, ASSWAB, Guwahati, 2000, Pp.38-39.
The Indian Journal of Political Science
546
21. File Documents, Vocational Training Programme for Adult Women Section, Assam
State Social Advisory Board, Guwahati.
22. A Report of Legal Aid Cell (1 992-2002), A document of Tezpure District Mahila Samity,
Tezpur, Sonitpur, P.1
23. ibid., p.2
24. In Search of Her Empowerment; A document on Mahila Sanchay Bharal (bank), Published
by Tezpur District mahila Samiti, 2007,
25. ibid. p.9.
26. ibid.plO.
27. Barry, Norman P,, Welfare, Viva Books Private Limited, 4262/3 - Ansari Road , New
Delhi 110002.; First South Asian Edition. 2002, p-137.
28. Glazer Nathan, The Limits of Social Policy, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press,
1988.P.7
The Indian Journal of Political Science
Vol. LXVill, No. 3, Juiy-Sept., 2007
THE DOHA ROUND OF WORLD TRADE NEGOTIATIONS :
A PREVIEW AND PERSPECTIVE
(A developing country analysis)
Jagadish K. Patnaik
The object of the essay is to examine the present status of the trading arrangement
vis-a-vis the developing countnes. This essay will focus on the background of the
present trade talks, which will provide the context for a perspective of the trade
negotiations. In the second section, we will attempt to briefly highlight the salient
points of the previous rounds of negotiations in the context of the developing countries.
In the third section, we will discuss the eighth round, the Uruguay Round, which preceded
the present round. The fourth section will analyze the Doha round negotiations for
understanding the present position of the trade regime. Finally, in conclusion we will
observe the need for greater flexibility on the part of the member countries of the world
trade systerh to facilitate the globalization process with greater rigour.
I. introduction :
The World Trade system is in a flux.”' Last century witnessed eight rounds of negotiations
to set the rules for the conduct of trade and commerce among nation states. The ending of last
century, hoyvever, again necessitated for proceeding with another round of negotiations. This is
owing to the inadequacy of the world trade system to cope up with the changing needs of time.
Despite numerous derogations and compromises, the eighth round, I.e. the Uruguay Round
(UR), seemed to evolve a formidable set of rules for realizing free and fair trade in the world,
though.^ There may have been reservations as to fairness of the conduct of free trade by the
most developed countries. The developing countries are no less far either. There have been so
many bottlenecks in implementing free trade in consonance with the provisions of the Charter. It
is, however, to be mentioned that the WTO agreements are concerned with goods, services and
intellectual property. The UR agreements dealt with them though, there is still work to be done.^
As the developing countries are integrating with the world economy, it is imperative that
the barriers to trade need to be eliminated though'^. The cold attitude by the rich countries,
however, has been coming in the way of fuller participation of the developing countries in the
world trade arena. ^ The proposal to continue with the trade talks for furthering the liberalization
of world trade through trade talks in the Doha Round is Indicative of the world community to go
ahead with facilitating the globalization process unhindered. The Doha Declaration of November
2001 which mandated for launching of a new round, incorporates one of the complex and
ambitious agenda on trade talks of the present century.® There are many bottlenecks in the
smooth completion of the round though. The WTO Director-General, Dr. Supachai Panitchpakdl,
in a recent report on the status of the negotiations painted a bleak picture:
These negotiations are in trouble. Very little of the political support which has been
shown at successive Ministerial meetings has been turned into concrete progress in the
negotiating groups. Everyone has a generalized commitment to progress, but when it comes
The Indian Journal of Political Science
to the specifics, the familiar defensive positions take over.
548
Ever since the Uruguay Round of the world trading system came to an end in 1 994,
there have been efforts to launch a new round of negotiations. In fact, the then President of
America, Bill Clir>ton was even keen to have a round of negotiations after his name. For the
long and arduous journey of trade negotiations in the eighth round had been characterized by
so much of acrimony and bullying. The developing countries had to ‘cave in’ eventually to the
tactics of the developed countries. There is no doubt that the UR was one of the longest ever
trade talks undertaken by the world community. Following the signing of the Marrakesh T reaty,
a whole series of issues have come up that needed attention. While the UR was one of those
rounds, which took up, besides agriculture, three important new issues- Trade in Intellectual
Property (TRIP), T rade Related Investment Measures (TRIM) and Services, the ending of last
century and the beginning of present century continue to be alive to those issues. Another
important dimension of the trade talks is that Agriculture and Textiles that were part of the UR
still continue to dominate the present trade talks as well.
The object of the essay is to examine the present status of the trading arrangement
vis-a-vis the developing counties. This essay will focus on the background of the present trade
talks, which will provide the context for a perspective of the trade negotiations. In the second
section, we will attempt to briefly highlight the salient points of the previous rounds of
negotiations in the context of the developing countries. In the third section, we will discuss the
eighth round, the Uruguay Round, which preceded the present round. The fourth section will
analyze the Doha round negotiations for understanding the present position of the trade regime.
Finally, in conclusion we will observe the need for greater flexibility on the part of the member
countries of the world trade system to facilitate the globalization process with greater rigour.
II. From Geneva Through Tokyo
This section will make a cursory perusal at the historical development of the world trade
system since the ending of the World War II. ® This will provide a perspective about the nature
of the trading system that has been in place since then. Since the beginning of the present
trading arrangement, the development dimension has been the key component in the trade
talks. As early as the Suggested Charter that the U.S. circulated proposing for the creation of
an international trade organization, reference to economic development have been there, in
fact, a special chapter on Economic Development was inserted following negotiations in the
Preparatory Committee for the Havana Conference.®
We will discuss the growth of the trading arrangement through the various rounds of the
Genera! Agreement on T rade and Tariffs. Since the inception of the GATT, the predecessor of
WTO, there were eight rounds of trade talks. The first five rounds of negotiations of the trade
talks were more or less related to tariffs, with little attention paid to other issues. Although
the developing countries were clamouring for more concessions, there was not substantial
The Doha Round of World Trade Negotiations 549
achievement in these rounds. One thing that has been noticed during these rounds though,
was that the developing countries were rallying round support for projecting their object of
getting some concessions from the developed countries.
it is interesting to note that the International Trade Organization, which was proposed in
the Geneva Conference, had to be abandoned due to the inability of the U.S. to ratify it. The
Havana Charter, which was the final text of the GATT to be approved in the third and final
Conference at Havana, Cuba in 1947, had embodied provisions pertaining to the industrial
development of backward areas and the flow of capital for productive investment. The foundation
for the setting up of the ad hoc body, i.e. GATT, was laid down in the Second Preparatory
Meeting in Geneva in April 1 947. This ad hoc body, however, continued to exist for more than
four decades and performed the function of a permanent organization. The structure that came
into place became part of the newly re-christened multilateral trading arrangement called the
World Trade Organization that came into being following the closing of the eighth round in
Marrakesh.
Since the beginning there have been attempts by leading developing countries like
India to extract concessions from the developed countries for economic development. As
early as the 1 946 London meeting India projected the Third World perspective on economic
development. India also pleaded strongly for new international rights with respect to loans and
access to the means of economic development. In the Geneva (1 949), and Annency Round
(1949) India negotiated with many developed countries for concessions to be offered and
received in trade. In the Torquay Round (1951) also, ie. the third round, India exchanged
concessions with more contracting parties, in the fourth round held in Geneva again in 1 956,
India did not take part, as it did not have much to offer in the form of tariff concessions. In the
fifth round, the Dillon Round held at Geneva in 1 960-1 961 , developing countries like India did
take part actively. India submitted a number of concrete proposals to Committee to include in
the rules on the negotiability of non-tariff measures like quotas, subsidies and internal taxes.
The proposals were accepted after substantial discussion.''^
In fact, the mood and temperament of the developing countries during the fifties and
sixties in the 20th century were more or less analogous to what we witness today in the Doha
round. There was much of camaraderie among the developing countries. Speaking on India’s
participation in the GATT, the then Commerce and Industry Minister said: “When restrictions
are necessary in the interest of economic development and raising the standard of living, the
mere fact that they would... restrict the volume of international trade, is not much of an
argument against them."'^’’ The Indian delegate Mr. Helmi pointed out that the concept of
‘infant industry’ included in Article XVII was inadequate and restricted. The original text, he
argued, did not make any distinction between the application of protection to aggregate
categories of economy on the one hand, and to the specific industries on the other. The
outcome of such a perspective was not so encouraging though, the developing countries,
The Indian Journal of Political Science
550
including India, did make their point that made the members to deliberate upon the said
provision and suggest for amendments.^^
The Kennedy Round of trade negotiations during 1 964-67 marked a significant departure
from the previous five rounds of the GATT negotiations. In the earlier rounds, bargaining was
done on selective item-by-item basis, and concessions were exchanged on reciprocal basis.
The limitation of such approach was felt in the Dillon round, particularly with regard to the
commodities from the developing countries. Thus, a linear approach involving tariff cuts across
the board with a minimum exception was considered preferable, in October 1 962, therefore.
President Kennedy secured under the United States Trade Expansion Act the authority of the
Congress to cut tariffs upto 50 percent subject to reciprocity, on an across the board basis.
Still more significant is that in this round both the tariff and non-tariff barriers as well as
industrial and non-industrial products including agriculture and primary products were discussed.
The ground rules of the Kennedy Round took serious account of the special problems of the
developing countries. It was understood that every effort would be made by the developed
countries to make deeper than the stated 50 percent cuts on products of special export
interest to the less-developed countries. Interestingly, however, many of the items of special
interest to the developing countries had figured on the lists of exceptions of developed countries
for reasons of ‘overriding national interest.*'"’ A year after the Kennedy Round came to an end,
the United States in a major departure from its earlier position voted to support a Generalized
System of Preferences (GSP) that would grant tariff preferences to all developing countries on
products without demanding reciprocity. This was in contrast to what was contained in the
Art. 1 of the GATT charter: reciprocity. This provision was waived off for a period of ten years.
Although it took a few years for the real implementation of this proposal, this is a major
achievement for the developing countries.
The international situation following the Kennedy Round seemed to be at cross-purposes
with the interests of the developed countries. The late sixties and seventies saw the developed
countries engaging in increasing protectionism due to their involvement in many third world
crisis situations. The U.S. was deeply embroiled in the Vietnam War. The oil producing countries
led by OPEC had increased oil prices manifold to the astonishment of the rich countries. The
developing countries were clamouring for the adoption of new international economic order.
The challenge to the GATT was also directly felt by the creation of the UNCTAD. In the
backdrop of these developments, the Tokyo Round was introduced. The rich countries had to
accept the voice of the poor countries. At the Ministerial Meeting in Tokyo, it was decided to
provide protective discrimination to the developing countries. Accordingly, the Tokyo declaration
provided the mandate for the purpose."*^
The visible presence of the developing country perspective could be felt in the Tokyo
Round to a great extent. There have been efforts since long to provide for the increased
entrenchment of the Generalized System of Preferences, though. It was in 1976 that the
The Doha Round of World Trade Negotiations 551
Group on Framework was established in the GATT. The Indian submission on the issue is
very revealing.^® Despite considerable opposition from the developing countries to the ideaof
preferential system, there was some acceptance to the differential and more favourable
treatment. The essence of the special and differentia! treatment (s & d t) was the idea of
graduation that would allow the developed countries to differentiate among the developing
countries. The Tokyo Round definitely underscored the rising importance of the developing
countries. One writer, thus, commented: “As time goes on, it begins to look more and more
as if the momentum of the Tokyo Round proposals for greater legal discipline over developing
countries has become spent and that the legal demands of developing countries have regained
the initiative.”
III. Ther Uruguay Round
The Uruguay Round that preceded the present Doha Round was the eighth round of the
trade negotiations. This was one of the longest rounds of trade talks so far in the history of
trading regime. It was even suggested that this round would end all the rounds by bringing in
even all the original GATT articles to review. The Uruguay Round began in 1 986 at Punta del
Este, Uruguay, and ended in 1 994 at Marrakesh. Besides the traditional issues, this round for
the first time took up new issues- Services, TRIPS and TRIMS- for negotiations. Also, this
round witnessed one of the most comprehensive discussions on many important issues,
which had dogged the world community for quite long time - textiles and agriculture. These
two issues have been eluding the international community for quite long time due to various
reasons; and specifically because of the apathetic attitude of the developed countries. While
agriculture was dogged by protectionist measures, textiles trade was conducted under peculiar
arrangement called Multi Fibre Agreement, which was in contravention of the GATT principle.
In any case, a whole of series of these items came on the board for phasing out the distortions
in trade. Still important, this round gave the final legal sanction for the creation of the World
T rade Organization replacing the ad hoc body, GATT.
One important dimension of this round was that for the first time the developing countries
projected their position with more of aggression than in the previous rounds. The three important
actors like the U.S., EEC and Japan were no way calling the shots all the while, as the
developing countries worked in compact with respect to various issues. As Denton and Laite
suggested, “One new element in this Round is the ability of the LDC’s to hold up agreement,
since the industrial countries have important specific demands to put up them.'’®" The way
various groups, such as the Cairns Group^®, and the Group of Ten^®, were forcing their
perspectives into the negotiating process suggested that the developing countries have
graduated themselves from the status of bystanders to activists in the trading regime. As this
author mentioned elsewhere, “Specifically, at the agenda-setting and rule-making stage,
developing countries have played a very notable role in the Uruguay Round of negotiations.’’^^
The indiari Journal of Political Science
IV. DOHA ROUND
552
The Fourth Ministerial Meeting of world trade body came up with the declaration on the
20th November 2001 , which incorporated economic development as the core issue in contrast
to the previous rounds that did only lip service to economic development. The work program
lists 21 items and all negotiation was to end by 1 January 2005. This could not meet the
deadline as the talks are now deadlocked. It has definitely a “large, complex and ambitious
agenda with a number of subjects/issues involving negotiations.”^^ Although trade liberalization
and elimination of trade barriers constitute the principle aim of the world trading regime, for the
first time there is a realization that liberal international trade can be the engine for economic
development in the developing countries. The Ministerial Declaration states:
International trade policy can play a major role in the promotion of economic development
and alleviate the need for all peoples to benefit from the increased opportunities and welfare
gains as the multilateral majority of WTO members are developing countries. We seek to
place their needs and interests at the heart and adopted in this Declaration. Recalling the
Preamble to the Marrakesh Agreement, we shall continue to make ensure that developing
countries, and especially the least developed among them, secure a share in the growth
commensurate with the needs of their economic development.^®
Since the Doha Declaration 2001 , there have been extensive works to conduct
negotiations In different areas. Negotiations in specific areas include agriculture: services;
market access for non-agricultural products; trade-related aspects of intellectual property;
trade facilitation; WTO rules; improvements to Dispute Settlement Understanding; and trade
and environment. There are some highly important issue areas on which there is hardly any
negotiations: electronic commerce; small economies; trade; debt and finance: trade and transfer
of technology; technological cooperation and capacity building; least-developed countries and
special and differential treatment.®'^ Added to the lengthy list of agenda, the U.S and EU have
submitted for negotiations on the Singapore issues: investment, competition, transparency,
and government procurement. We will, however, confine ourselves to discuss some of the key
issues, such as Agriculture, Market Access Negotiations, Services and Special and Differentia!
T reatment that concern the developing countries, specifically like India.
Agriculture ; There have been sharp division between the developed and developing
countries regarding reforms and liberalization of agriculture, particularly on the nature and
extent of reduction in trade-distorting domestic support and improvement in market access.
There has been opposition by members granting export subsidies to phase out such subsidies.
The developed countries insist on minimal market access commitments in their sensitive
products particularly from large and relatively more advanced developing countries. Although
some progress has been made to remove all forms of agricultural export subsidies; there is
still problem regarding the decision to set an end-date.^®
The Doha Round of World Trade Negotiations 553
The role of the Group of 20 (G-20) countries led by India is noteworthy. It has been able to
bring into focus on removal of the distortions in agriculture due to high level of subsidies and
resistance to reduce border protections in import sensitive products. The G-20 insisted that
any new market access commitments on developing country must not cast a disproportionate
higher burden on them as compared to developed countries. There is a need to provide sufficient
safeguards to protect the food and livelihood security and rural development concerns. India
has been arguing that a vast majority of its population is dependent on agriculture, which is
characterized by subsistence and small farming. In orderto protect the livelihood in agriculture
and availability of food at affordable prices, India has been arguing for flexibility in domestic
policies for agriculture to ensure food security and rural development.^® Mr. Kamal Nath,
Commerce Minister, Government of India, in his address to the Commonwealth Heads of
Government Meeting stated the position clearly:^"^
“The most profound structural distortions in international trade occurs in agriculture i
through huge domestic support and export subsidies that protect farmers in developed countries,
even though agriculture accounts for less than 5% of output and employment in the U.S and
EU. In contrast, two-thirds of all the poor people in developing countries depend on agriculture
for their livelihood They live on the edge of poverty and their income is barely one dollar
per day.”
India’s position is that for creating a level-playing field in multilateral trade, the US ;l
should have “real cuts” in farm subsidies. Washington, however, put the blame on the European ji
Union. The contentious issue in agricultural trade included in the perception of what India and ii
the US consider as trade-distorting support and what is allowed in Green Box, which is non- j
trade distorting.^® Even the Indian Commerce Minister threatened that India can live without i;
a deal in Doha trade negotiations, rather than agree to a bad deal. India and other countries j
are not prepared to make sacrifices that will lead to “de-industrialization” and “de-stabilization”^® i
. According to J. B. Penn, Under Secretary of State, US Department of Agriculture, “the world
is now looking at EU to come up with improved proposals... So that the Doha round could ' 4 ,
move forward.”®® t
Non-agriculture Products : Negotiations on market access of non-agricultural products
(NAMA) have also lacked progress in evolving modalities and formulae for cutting tariffs. The
deadline set for the purpose was May 31 ,2003. The developing countries believed in offering
tariff cuts on a formula -based approach on a less than reciprocity basis for them. The developing
countries like the U.S. insist on scrapping all tariffs by 201 5. The Indian proposal called for a
simple percentage cut on bound tariff of each Member. India insists that developed countries
reduce a higher percentage while developing countries may have two-thirds of the corresponding
reduction in tariff by the developed countries. The draft proposal submitted by the Chairman of
NAMA suggested for zero-for-zero commitment on seven major sectors including auto
components, fish and fish products, textiles, gems and jewelry, leather products, and electric
The Indian Journal of Political Science
and electronic goods. The draft proposal also suggested for special and differential and less
than full reciprocity for developing countries. The developing countries, the draft suggested,
can keep upto 5 percent of their tariff lines unbound provided they do not exceed 5 per cent of
their total value of imports. This line of mandated zero-for-zero import duty was not acceptable
to India. The Cancun Ministerial Meeting had, however, suggested for 10 per cent of tariff lines
that could have less than the formula-based levels of cuts. It also opened the scope for
mandatory participation in sectoral Initiative.
Services : The negotiations on services have been overshadowed by the deadlock in
agriculture; and as such there is little substantial progress in the talks on services. India has
submitted proposal covering both horizontal access as well as sectoral access in various
sectors of services. India’s request to various countries relate to architectural services, audio
visual services, computer and related services, maritime services, tourism and travel related
services, financial services, construction and related engineering services, and accounting
and book keeping services. In fact, at the horizontal level India is concerned with the movement
of natural persons which was the butt of contention in the Uruguay Round. Another key area
is the cross border supply of services through electronic mode of delivery in a large number of
service sectors.
There are around 68 initial and 24 revised offers that have been submitted by the members
as of July 2005. There may have been some improvement in the quantity but “the overall
quality remains unsatisfactory. Few, if any, provide new business opportunities to service
suppliers. Most Members feel that the negotiations are not progressing as well as they should.’’^^
Special and Differential Treatment : This issue has been one of the key issues of
the development dimension of the Doha Round, in fact, s& d t has been figuring in the traded
talks since the sixties of last century during the Kennedy and Tokyo Rounds of the GATT
days. It has been agreed in the Doha Ministerial Declaration that special and differential
treatment is an integral part of the WTO agreement. There were numerous constraints faced
by the developing countries in operation of the provisions of special and differentia! treatment.
In view of this, it was felt that the provisions of the agreement would be reviewed in the Doha
round so that they become “precise, effective and operational." That is how it becomes part of
the Decision on Implementation-Related Issues and Concerns of Doha mandate.
The Implication : It is seen from the various studies that the initial projections made
by the World Bank and other agencies about the net gains for the developing countries seemed
to flounder due to the statistical jugglery. There is now a realist picture emerging as the talk
progress with respect to various issues that are being discussed. The main thrust of the Doha
Round being the development objective of the developing countries, there is hardly any
substantial gain for the developing countries perse in real terms. It is now reported that as per
the latest projections of the World Bartk study, the economic benefits are far smaller than
earlier estimated, and developing countries will have gains of well under one percent of GDP.
555
The Doha Round of World Trade Negotiations
According to one study, “the benefits are small for developing countries and the costs are
high.”^^ It has been suggested that the projections of the gains for the developing countries
from full trade liberalisation fell from $539 to just $90.
In the agriculture sector, the developing country gain will be in the region of $9 billion.
The model projections now show that the major chunk of the share going to the high-income
countries. There is no doubt that the gains for the more competitive economies will be more
than expected. The developing countries will be squeezed for pursuing economic policies as
effective strategies of development that were allowed under the previous dispensation. As a
consequence of the proposal under the Doha Round, the poor countries will have no elbowroom
to manoeuvre for development. Specifically in sectors like agriculture, services, intellectual
property, and non- agricultural market access there would be hardly any space for the national
governments to deploy any effective policy strategy for development. Interestingly, however,
“half of he developing country benefits go to just eight countries: Brazil, Argentina, China,
India, Thailand, Vietnam, Mexico and Turkey.”^^
Table 1, Benefits of “likely” Doha Round Scenario
Beneficiary Region
High Income
Developing
World
Welfare Gain
Total amounts.
80
16
96
Per Capit
$ 79.04
$ 3.13
$15.67
Percentage of GDP
0.24%
0.14%
0.23%
Source: Anderson K. And W. Martin, “Agriculture Trade Reform and the Doha Development
Agenda," World Economy, September 2005, Table 10, p 1319; Quoted in RIS Policy Briefs
#19, New Delhi. P.2
V. Conclusion
The discussions in the foregoing sections drive home the point that the multilateral
trading system has come a long way. It has been evolving and keeping pace with the changing
needs of the time. Especially, the efforts of the developing countries to make it broad- based
and effective to cater to their needs seem to be gaining ground. There is no doubt that in none
of the rounds the developing country has upper hand in setting up the rules. The developing
country perspectives that have been evolving over the years, however, seem to have its impact
since the beginning. The rich countries may have gained out of the multilateral system. The
real gain for them has been even beyond this structure that has been there since the Bretton
Woods days, in fact, it is for the developing countries that are now integrating their economies
The Indian Journal of Political Science
556
with the global economy, an effective trading regime is highly important. It is another matter if
some countries extract concessions from the rich countries through bilateral arrangements. A
multilateral trading regime, however, is an essential element in the present multi-polar economic
system.
The Doha Round may have started with a bang, with a lot of promise for the developing
countries by adopting it as “Development Round." Although since the beginning some developing
countries have been exerting the world body to incorporate the development dimension as one
of the objectives of the trading system. There were many half-hearted attempts to do so. This
time, however, with the increasing force of globalisation and liberalisation of almost all developing
countries the Doha Round seemed to be befittingly adopting development as the key element.
The progress of the talks, however, seems to move in the direction that is beyond the original
mandate. This supervenes the earlier positions of the contracting parties of the WTO. The
outcome does not seem to be too well for the developing countries. As one study suggested,
'The round began with vows to enable poorer nations to develop their economies. The
deal taking shape now offers limited economic gains for the developing world, and many
countries end up worse off, according to recent economic projections. Hidden behind those
modest benefits are costs that should give negotiations pause. Tariff losses and other
“adjustment costs” may be prohibitively high, some countries will experience a loss in national
production after opening their manufacturing and service sectors to rich-country competition,
and all face the loss of autonomy to pursue the kind of national development policies that
have proven effective in the past.”^^
The crux of the matter is that development as such has been undergoing a paradigm
shift. The development dimension has been changing.^^ Now international trade has been
accepted as an engine of growth. There is also shift from assets based on commodity to
assets based on knowledge. With globalisation and liberalisation, the developing countries
have been adopting newer strategies for economic development. The earlier inward oriented
strategy for economic development has been bidden good-bye. Now the developing countries
have been keen to do international trade. There is decisive shift in the focus in the macro
economic policies. The new economic policies may be too daunting: but there is no other go
but to integrate with the world economy, which in other words, means to be part of the multilateral
trading arrangement. The initial costs may be higher. In the long run, these economies will
cope up with the loss and hopefully develop keeping pace with developments in the world
economy. In this context, the Doha Round is a pointer in the direction.
ENDNOTES
1 For the structure and organization of the world trade system see my article, “The World
Trade System: the Structure and Organizations,” India Quarterly, Vol. LVI, Nos. 3-4.
July-Dee. 2000.
The Doha Round of World Trade Negotiations 557
2. See my book, India and the GATT: the Origin, Growth and Development (New Delhi:
A.P.H.C 0 I 997 )
3. The ‘additional details’
These agreements and annexes deal with the following specific sectors or issues :
For goods (under GATT)
® Agriculture
• Health regulations for farm products (SPS)
® Textiles and clothing
® Product standards (TBT)
• investment measures
• Anti-dumping measures
“ Customs valuation methods
® Preshipment inspection
• Rules of origin
• Import licensing
« Subsidies and counter-measures
« Safeguards
For services (the GATS annexes)
• Movement of natural persons
• Airtransport
• Financial services
• Shipping
• Telecommunications
Source: World Trade Organization, Understanding the WTO, 3rd Edition, September 2003. p.22
4. About two thirds of the WTO’s around 146 members are developing countries.
5. “Given the widespread slippages in the timeline on these negotiations and the current
stalemate, progress under the Doha round so far has been slow, putting a question
mark on the feasibility of timely completion of the Round.” See http://indiabudget.niQ.in
6. At the Fourth Ministerial Conference in Doha, Qatar, jn November 2001 WTO member
governments agreed to launch new negotiations. They also agreed to work on other
issues in particular the implementation of the present agreements. The entire package
558
The indiari Journal of Political Science
is called Doha Development Agenda (DDA). See www. wto.org> trade topics>Doha
Development Agenda
7. Speech by Director-General, Dr. Supachai Panichpakdi, at an informal meeting at the
level of Heads of Delegation, 8 July 2005 (http;//www.wto.org/english/new/s_e/esp/
sps40_e.htm)
8. This section draws heavily from my book, India and GATT : Origin Growth and Dimension,
op. cit. Ch-5.
9. Kenneth W. Dam, The GATT: Law and the International Economic Organization (Chicago:
The University of Chicago Press, 1970), p.225.
1 0. The firs five rounds are: 1 .Geneva (1 947); 2. Annency (1 949); S.Torquay (1 959); 4.Geneva
(1 956): 5. Dillon round (1 960-61 ). The Sixth round is the Kennedy Round (1 964-47) and
Seventh Round was the Tokyo Round (1 974-1 979).
1 1 . The recommendations adopted by the Committee for the Conference included (i) the
protection afforded through the operation of imports monopolies; (ii) internal quantitative
regulations as provided in paragraph 7 of Article III; (ill) import restrictions as provided in
Article IV; (iv)import restrictions as provided in paragraph 2© of Article XI; (v) the level of
subsidy which operates directly or indirectly to reduce imports; (iv) internal taxes
12. Quoted in S.K. Srivastava, Trade of India (Delhi: S Chand & Co. 1956), p. 250.
is. As the GATT report suggested: “Essentially, the review resulted in a reaffirmation of the
cardinal rules of the Agreement. The amendments that were adopted were designed to
make them in some cases more flexible and in other cases firmer, depending upon the
lessons of practical experience. But in no case were the fundamental principles
discarded.” See GATT, International Trade 1 954, (Geneva 1 955), p.1 29
14. Ernest H. Preeg, Traders and Diplomats: An analysis of the Kennedy round under the
General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (Washington, D.C: The Brookings Institution,
1970), p. 131.
15. “The Ministers recognize the need for special measures to be taken in the negotiations
to assist the developing countries in their efforts to increase their export earnings and
promote their economic development. . . They also recognize the importance of maintaining
and improving Generalized System of Preferences. They further recognize the importance
of the application of differential measures to developing countries in ways which will
provide special and more favorable treatment for them in areas of the negotiations where
this is feasible and appropriate.” GATT, BISD, 20th Supplement, paraS. p.19
“The Indian submission expounded: We are not suggesting the discarding of the m. f .n
16.
559
The Doha Round of World Trade Negotiations
principles, but an evolving concept of the m. f. n principle which would recognize and
incorporate the compulsions arising from the economic and development needs of he
developing countries.” GATT Document, MTN/ FRAA//9, 1 9 April 1 977, Para 8.
1 7. Robert E. Hudec, Developing Countries in the GATT Legal System (London: Gower, for
the T rade Policy Research Center, 1 987), Thames Essay no. 50, p. 90
18. Geoffrey Denton and Julian Laite, The Uruguay GATT Round: Freeing World Trade in
Manufacturing, agriculture, Services and Investment, Wilton Park Papers 3 (London:
HMSO, 1990&91), pp.3-4
19. Cairns Group is a coalition of fourteen agricultural exporting countries from both
developed and developing countries. It consists of Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada,
Chile, Colombia, Fiji, Hungary, Indonesia, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines,
Thailand, and Uruguay.
20. The Group of Ten was originally identified as “hard liner” countries. Argentina, Brazil,
Cuba, Egypt, India, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Peru, Tanzania and Yugoslavia. However,
Argentina withdrew from the group as negotiations progressed; while Yugoslavia was
facing a bloody civil war.
21. See my book, India and the GATT, op. cit. P.116.
22. http://indiabudget.nic.in. p.1 15
23. WT/M1N(01)/DEC.1 (20November)2001)
24. “Some progress has been made in Agriculture. While the AVE (ad valorem equivalent)
issue has been unblocked, this has not yet sufficiently galvanized the negotiations on
the most funcamental element of the market access package, the tiered formula for
tariff cuts, although some progress has just been made on other aspects of the market
access pillar. Some progress has also been made on domestic support and, to a lesser
extent, on export competition. Of course, it remains important to advance work on all
three pillars, although some sequencing is necessary for that to happen.
In the NAMA negotiations, while there were some hopeful signs in June, but now positions
appear to be hardening. I fear that the obvious constraint here is still lack of progress on
Agriculture.
In the Services negotiations, while the situation has improved since the May TNG in
terms of numbers of initial and revised offers, the quality of the offers continues to be
poor. It remains for the membership to see how to take these negotiations forward to
Hong Kong.
The Indian Journal of Political Science
560
In the Rules areas, including Trade Facilitation, we still need to consolidate the wide range of
ideas on the table to prepare the ground for further progress in most areas. That said,
some useful progress has recently been made on T rade Facilitation and in the Regional
Trade Agreement track in the Rules Group. See Speech by Director-General, Dr.
Supachai Panichpakdi, at an informal meeting at the level of Heads of Delegation, 8
July 2005 (http://www.wto.org/english/news_e/esp/sps40_e.htm
25. For a discussion on the developing country perspective see, Devinder Sharma, “Protecting
Agriculture: “Zero-Tolerance” on Farm Subsidies, “ http://www.globalpolicy.org/globaliz/
econ/2003/0205 zero.htm, dt.1 0/22/2005.
26. http://indiabudget.nic.in. p.1 15
27. http://pib.nic/release/re_print_page1 .asp?relid, dt.1 1/27/2005.
28. http://www.outlookindia.com , 11/27/2005
29. D.RaviKanth, “Square meal issue in Doha Round,” The Mizoram Post, dt.5 May 2006,
p. 4.
30. ibid
31 . Minutes of Video Conference February 21 , 2005 jointly organized by PnoWB T rade and
the World Bank, Quoted in “Completing the Doha Round Development Agenda- A
Background Paper Presented by the Commonwealth Association,” 25th Commonwealth
Parliamentary Conference of Member from Small Countries, Nadi, Fiji Islands, 3 to 4
September 2005, Commonwealth Parliamentary Association, p 4
Timothy A. Wise and Kevin P. Gallagher, Doha 'Round and Developing countries: Will
the Doha deal do more harm than good? RIS Policy Briefs; no. 22, April 2006, p. 4.
Timothy A. Wise and Kevin P. Gallagher, Doha Round’s Development Impacts: Shrinking
Gains and Real Costs, RIS Poiicy Briefs #19, New Delhi. P.2
Timothy A. Wise and Kevin P. Gallagher, Doha Round and Developing countries: Will
the Doha deal do more harm than good? Op .cit
Appording to Wise and Gallagher, “the Doha Round has strayed form its development
rnission.” See note 32, p,3.
The Indian Journal of Political Science
Vol. LXVIII, No. 3, July-Sept., 2007
ELECTION TREND IN BAY ISLANDS'
PARLIAMENTARY CONSTITUENCY : A STUDY
S.K. Biswas
Democracy is the voice of people or mass. The Indian democracy is the largest and
richest in the sense that more than 50 crores of voters are participating in parliamentary
democratic process by electing their representatives. The political activities in the
Islands and voters perception started with the introduction of parliamentary election in
late sixties. The national political atmosphere has always impressed the Islands'
politics and its results have been affecting the politics and political milieu of these
Islands. Though religions and castes have no traces on the process of election
campaign in these Islands, languages or community has succeeded to have its traces
or election of different political parties.
INTRODUCTiON
A success behind every democratic force is people's verdict. People’s voice Is the
power of democratic representatives governments. India fells proud to be a largest and successful
parliamentary system with responsible government. Indian national movement was mechanized
with a hope, that the India would be liberated with a strong sovereign democratic country. The
people representative houses should be the core of its functionaries. Therefore the framers of
the Indian Constitution has laid importance over the de-centralization of power through electorate
systems. Each state should be worked with the principle of equal responsibilities towards its
citizens and be respectful toward the commitments of the Constitutions. Federal structure
was the best choice to the people of free India. The history of Indian democracy and parliamentary
form of government is affirmative and expamplary before world countries. Because in this
parliamentary system more than 55 cores of voters are eligible to exercise their votes to form
government. Every 5 years 4081 members are electioned for 25 Assembly of 25 state of the
Indian Union. 545 Lok Sabha members are elected by the equal number of voters in every five
years (Statesman Year Book, 2004). In the parliamentary government, each of the
constituencies and its voters are equally Important, and contribute in making union/state
government meaningful. Hence, the single Lok Sabha constituency of Andaman & Nicobar
Islands, a Union Territory (U.T), has its empirical importance in enriching the heritage of the
Indian democracy. Being a part of, Indian union, the voters of this constituency have every
right to preserve the significance of the Indian political force. Participation in the election
process by contributing through their political rights, is the rightful right of the islands' citizens.
The geographical isolation is not a barrier to uphold the dignity of Indianisation through the
exercise of adult franchise. Hence, an empiria! study is required, to assess the importance of
parliamentary process among Indian voters who composed a different multi-ethnic society.
GEOGRAPHY & ECOLOGY -The Andaman & Nicobar Islands (ANl), a U.T. of India lie
in the Bay of Bengal, between 92° and 94° east longitudes and 60° and 140° north latitudes.
These Islands comprising several big and small ones lie in the north-south direction. According
to the 1981 census by the A&N Administration, only 38 of these are inhabited. The A&N
The Indiari Journal of Political Science
562
groups of islands are separated by a 1 90km stretch of sea, at the center of which in the other
turbulent Ten Degree Channel, which is 145 km wide and 400 fathoms deep. The Andaman
group covers an area of 6340 sq.km. And Nicobar group covers 1 953 sq. km."'
POPULATION PROFILE :
The total population of these Islands as per 2001 census is 356265, The population
can be divided into three main categories. The autochthons, namely the Great Andamaneses,
Ongis, Jarawas and Sentinels of the Andamans and the Nicobarese and Shompens of Nicobar
constitute the first category. The second category is of settler groups mainly comprising the
Bengalis, Moplahs, Bhatus, Ranchi (Tribaisfrom Chota Nagpur, Bihar), Local born Andaman
Indians (Progenies of early settlers who were earlier brought as Convicts), Karen, Malayalee,
etc. The third category, a sizable one, consists of those who came to the Islands by virtue of
their being in service trade and industry (R.S. Mann-1 980 has aptly termed them as floating
populations.)
Though ANl is a far-flung Union Territory and many Indians known nothing about it, yet
it occupies a very significant and strategic position for its geographical location. As these are
islands in the sea towards the south - east end of India, it is significant from the viewpoint of
defence of the country. There was also the influx of a huge number of people from the
mainland for various purposes. These people brought with them much diversity as regards
languages, culture, and religion and many others. They have grown a peculiar homogeneity
amongst them and one can see the real unity in diversity in these Islands.
But with the passage of time, the society is becoming more and more complex. The
rapid inflation in the size of the population and the changing social, political and economic life
in ANl is required to be investigated for the purpose of knowing the changes that have occurred
in the political behaviour of the Islands.
The study remains concentrated on the following aspects of political life of the people of
these Islands.
1 . To study the existing political system of ANl
2. To study the behaviour of the voters to elect their representatives.
3. To know the voting behaviour of the people of these Islands.
4. To know the role of variables like language, religion, caste and education in election or
in the political life of the people.
5 To know the factors conditioning the voting behaviour of the people of the Islands.
6. To give suggestion for growing ideal democratic attitude in the voters.
Election Trend in Bay Island's Parliamentary Constituency
METHODOLOTY APPLIED IN THE PRESENT STUDY :
563
The study is an empirical one. An attempt has been made to analyse the election
trend in existence in A&N Islands Parliamentary Constituency, an^ to come up with the
appropriate suggestions so as to make the trend a healthy one in the democratic set up of the
nation.
STAGES OF POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT :
Before 1 951 , the people of these islands were deprived of any political activities and
there was no political institution in these Islands. Under the Representation of People Act
1 951 , the Islands was allotted one seat in the Lok Sabha, which was to be filled by a person
nominated by the President of India. As such Bishop John Richardson represented the
Islands in the first, Shri Lechman Singh in the second and Shri. Niranjan Lai represented the
Islands in the third Lok Sabha.
The first election on the basis of political parties was held in 1 967 in ANI and Shri. K.R.
Ganesh from the Congress party was the first elected representative in the Lok Sabha.
In 1 967 and 1971 general elections, only few thousands islanders exercised their voting
rights with limited choice. Because, other than Congress party candidate Mr. K.R. Ganesh,
and Swatantra Party candidate Mr, R.L. Saha, no candidates could manage to get any party
tickets. Mr. PKS Prasad and K. Kandaswami and other fought as independent candidates.
The troubles and turmoils in the history of Congress party at all India level did not have much
effect on the popularity of the party in these islands. Though force and presence of opposition
was first felt by the Congress party in the election of 1977 when the expelled ex-M.P. of
congress Party Mr. K.R. Ganesh stood against the newly nominated Congress candidate Mr.
M.R. Bhakta. Inspite of the solid backing of the entire opposition including DMK and CPM
Shri. K.R. Ganesh failed to retain his seat. The CPM, as national party enrooted its supporter
among some Bengali and Ma.'ayalee people who came over these Islands in connection with
some business or government job. The DMK a Tamilian based regional party in Tamil Nadu,
enrooted its base among Tamil people in the Islands.
The Indian Journal of Political Science
564
The participation and performance of the candidates in Andaman & Nicobar Islands
parliamentary constituency from 1 980 to 2004 :
TABLE NO -1
Year of
No. of
Valid votes
Name of
Party
Votes
Election
Voters
caste
Candidates
affiliation
secured
1980
96084
78899
K. Kandaswamy
independent
15856
Kanu Chamy
independent
405
Karpu Swamy
independent
1123
P.K.S. Prasad
CPI (M)
16014
M.R. Bhakta
INC
42046
Ramesh Mazumder
Independent
109
K.N. Raju
Independent
470
R.L Saha
Independent
717
Samar Choudhari
independent
2034
Alagiri Swamy
Independent
125
1984
1155.65
88968
M.R. Bhakta
INC
47019
K. Kandaswamy
LKD
27883
Nilima Das
CPI(M)
11086
A.A.J.Hazra
Independent
1695
Mahananda Biswas
Independent
780
Kandaswamy
Independent
505
1989
1,69,940
1,13,065
K. Kandaswamy
!C(Socialist)
19172
ZabaidaBibi
independent
553
Tapan Bepari
CPI(M)
34,469
M.R. Bhakta
INC
53383
S.M. J. Maricar
Independent
4457
Robert R.
Independent
806
ShareefJ.B.
Independent
225
1991
169120
107316
M.R. Bhakta
INC
54,075
Election Trend in Bay Island's Parliamentary Constituency 565
Japan Kr. Bepari
Bishnupada Roy
Balakrishna Nair.S.V.
ShareefJ.B.
CPI{M)
BJP
Independent
Independent
4737
5708
454
205
1996
211226
128212
M.R.Bhakta
INC
74642
Bishunpada Roy
B.J.P.
31097
Japan kr. Bepari
CPI(M)
18363
Sundaram S.N.
Independent
927
Vinod Kr. Gupta
Independent
707
Mathews P.A. Dr
Independent
544
Mohan N.B.
Independent
527
Kalimuthu
Independent
511
Satvanarayana Rao, S.
Independent
448
Baira] S.A.
Independent
258
Sahreef J.B.
Independent
188
1998
232013
145836
M.R.Bhakta
INC
52,365
Bishnupada Roy
BJP
51,281
Kuideep Rai Sharma
ANC
29,687
Japan Kr. Bepari
CP!{M)
8,272
Henry
Independent
3,509
Kalimuthu Dever K.
Independent
182
1999
247384
145791
Bishnu Pada Ray
BJP
76,891
M.R. Bhakta
INC
62,944
AgapitKujur
Independent
4,805
UmaBharathi
NCP
1,015
Kalimuthu Dever K.
Independent
136
The Indian Journal of Political Science
566
2004 241353 153826 M.R. Bhakta
INC
85,794
Bishnupada Roy
BJP
55, 294
Tapan Bepari
CPM
4,175
Lima Bharati
NCP
2,364
S. Nair
Independent
1446
Deepak Biswas
Independent
1186
A.K. Biswas
BSP
1122
Source : Office of the Chief Electoral Officer, Andaman and Nicobar Administration. Port Blair.
The table gives us a very vivid picture of last eight Lok Sabha elections held from 1 980
to 2004 in these Islands. In the Lok Sabha election of 1980, as on the one hand a large
number of candidates contested the election breaking all the previous precedents, on the
other hand Congress (1) candidate was not challenged by any new national or regional political
party candidates. Eight independent candidates, for the first time, also tried out their political
fate in this election. This election was symbolic to the fact that the political aspiration started
to sprout in the heart of the islanders having leadership characteristics.
In the election of 1984, Shri. K. Kandaswamy who fought election as an independent
candidate in 1 980 managed to be affiliated with Lok Dal and was put as a Lok Dal candidate.
A new political party as such took entry in the political activities of these Islands. It was an
indication that the political parties were interested to capture the political field of these far-
flung Islands with their party influence in the mainland. However, the Lok Dai candidate Shri.
K. Kandaswamy succeeded to bag a good number votes, i.e. 27883 and won the 2nd position
amongst the contestants, he could not defeat the Congress (I) candidate Shri. M.R. Bhakta
Shri. K. Kandaswamy being from Tamil Nadu won the support of many Tamil speaking people
who were basically affiliated with D.M.K.
in the general election of 1 989 a new political party India Congress (IC) (Socialist) put
its candidate. Shri. K. Kandaswamy, leaving the affiliation with the Lok Dal. joined in Socialist
Congress but could not show a good performance. Here one important point is notable that
Shri. K. Kandaswamy did not keep himself attached to a particular political party and in every
election he joined or supported a new party. In this election CPI (M) candidate Shri. Tapan Kr.
Election Trend In Bay Island's Parliamentary Constituency 567
Bepari, though could not win the election, succeeded to prove his emphatic position by bagging
34469 votes.
The four independent candidates secured only 6041 votes, which passes the message
that the voters of these Islands do not have faith in independent candidates, in this election
also Shri. M.R. Bhakta, Congress (I) won the election by a good margin.
In the election of 1 991 , the total number of contestants for only one M.P. seat of these
Islands was five only. There was an open contest between the Congress candidates Shri.
M.R. Bhakta and the CPI (M) candidate Shri. Tapan Kr. Bepari. Both the candidates were
from settler family of East Bengal. In this election also Shri. Tapan Kr. Bepari enhanced his
popularity among the voters and bagged 47374 votes which was about 1 3000 more than the
votes he secured in the previous election. Though the Congress was seeing a danger in near
future, Shri. M.R. Bhakta was again elected for the fifth time from this constituency. Bharatiya
Janata Party, which came into being in 1980, had no trace on the political scenario of the
Islands. Shri. Bishnupada Roy though not from settler family got nomination of Bharatiya
Janata Party as its candidate in this election. In this election he got a very impertinent portion
of the total votes cast, i.e. 5708. The two independent candidates Balakrishna Nair S.V. and
Shri. Shareef J.B. bagged only 659 votes in total.
In the general election of 1 996 the number of contestants were eleven which was the
maximum number of the contestants upto the 1 3th Lok Sabha election in 1 999. But of these
eleven candidates, only three were from national political parties i.e. INC, B.J.P. and CPI
(M). The number of total valid votes was 128,212; the INC candidate Shri. M.R. Bhakta
secured 74,742 votes; Shri. Bishnupada Roy of BJP secured 31 ,097 votes; and the CPI (M)
candidate secured 18,363 votes. The notable things in this election is that while CPI(M)
secured less than half the votes they secured in the previous election (1 991), BJP multiplied
their popularity by about six times. It was a clear Indication that BJP candidate was winning
over the faith of the voters in an unprecedented ratio. It was again an alarming situation to
the Congress (I) candidate. The remaining eight independent candidates secured only 41 1 0
votes in total. Here one more thing can be pointed out that the independent candidates,
whatever may their social status or individual qualities be, never succeeded to win over the
faith of the Islands voters.
The Indian Journal of Political Science
568
In the mid-term election of 1998 there were six candidates to contest for«the single
seat. Out of these six candidates, three were from national political parties, one was from
newly formed regional party Andaman & Nicobar Congress. The remaining two were
independent candidates. The supporters of newly emerged party (ANC) put Shri. Kuldeep Rai
Sharma, an engineering graduate, as their candidate. Inspite of strong backing of Pre-42
settlers locally known as “local born community”, could not show a very good result in the
election. He secured only 29,687 votes, it happened so due to two reasons.
First, the local born community comprises a very little portion of the total population of
the Islands. Secondly, the people of this community have had a strong tie with the Congress
party from very beginning. The real contest, in this election was between the candidates of
Congress (I) and BJP Shri. M.R. Bhakta and Shri. Bishnupada Roy respectively. However
there was an expectation that the BJP candidate would win the election as BJP was expected
to form the government at centre, but this time also Congress (I) candidate won the election
by a very narrow margin. The difference of votes was only 544. The Congress candidate never
won the election by such a narrow margin since 1 967. It was a clear indication that an anti-
Congress wind was blowing through out the Islands and the people wanted a change in the
leadership. The CPI (M) also last their hold on the voters in an unexpected manner. The BJP
candidate and workers did not leave any shortcoming in availing the opportunity. In the
meantime, government was formed at the centre under the leadership of BJP. After 1 3 months
only, the BJP led government fell at centre for being defeated in no-confidence motion moved
by the united opposition force.
The election of 1999 was a golden opportunity for the candidate of Bharatiya Janata
Party. As it had been the trend of the Islands that the islanders always imitate the national
political flow, many voters who voted in favour of other party in the previous election, now voted
for BJP sponsored candidate. It was so because they want to see the BJP government at the
centre. As such more than 50% voters favoured the BJP candidate. Bagging 76,891 votes he
defeated the Congress (I) candidate by 1 3947 votes. With this a new trend in the election of
A&N islands was been. But in 2004 election, INC candidate M.R. Bhakta came back in
Islands politics as M.P. by defeating his nearest contestant the sitting M.P. Mr. Roy by a
havoc margin.
2* VOTING PATTERN IN ANDAMAN & NICOBAR ISLANDS LOK SABHA CONSTITUENCY (1980-2004).
Election! Trend in Bay Island's Parliamentary Constituency
569
: Office of the Chief Electoral Officer, Andaman and Nicobar Administration, Port Blair.
The Indian Journal of Political Science
PARTY PERFORMANCE IN THE LOKSABHA ELECTION :
570
The record of last eight consecutive parliamentary elections (from 1 980-2004) (Table - 2)
shows that the faith of the electorates remained clung to Congress party upto the General
Election of 1998. It also symbolizes the declining popularity of the party in every election
except 1 996 election. In the election of 1 980, out of 96,084 voters only 81 1 46 voters exercised
their franchise. Congress (I), in this election, bagged 42046 (more than 50% of total votes
polled), CPI(M) 16014 and others bagged 20,839 votes; 2247 voters could not exercise their
franchise in valid way.
In 1984 election, the number of voters was 1,15,565, out of which 91 , 093 votes was
polled. In this election also Congress (I) succeeded to bag 47,01 9 (more than 50% of polled
votes), CPI (M) 1 1 ,086 and Lok Dal bagged 27,883 votes. Independent candidates secured
2980 votes altogether.
In 1 989 Parliamentary Elections, the number of voters increased by about 45,293. This
heavy increase in the number of voters was due to reduction of age bar from 21 years to 1 8
years. In this election, total votes stood at 1 60940 while 1 1 5409 voters exercised their franchise;
out of which Congress (I) got 53,383 (less than 50% of polled votes first time), CPf(M) got
34,469 votes and IC(Socialist) secured 19172 votes, others secured 6041 votes; 2338 votes
were found invalid and 6 votes were missing.
Ini 991 mid-term Lok Sabha election the number of voters were 1 ,69,038, out of which
only 1 08822 voters exercised their franchise. A notable decrease in exercise of franchise was
found in this election. Another remarkable incident, which took place in this election, was the
emergence of BJP in Andaman and Nicobar Islands politics for the first time. According to
polling record of this election. Congress (1) candidate M.R. Bhakta won the election bagging
54,075 votes, CPI(M) bagged 47,374 votes and BJP got 5,208 votes. In this election, CPI(M)
candidate Japan Kumar Bepari from a settler family of East Bengal refugee, though succeeded
to prove himself a popular leader, failed to defeat the Congress (!) candidates as the islanders
sensed the Congress led government at the centre.
In 1996 Lok Sabha election, the number of voters reached to 2,11,226 in these Islands.
But only 1 ,30,91 8 voters turned out to exercise their franchise. In this election, Congress (I)
got 74,642 votes, CP! (M) got 1 8,363 votes, BJP got 31 ,097 votes and others got only 41 1 0
votes. Performance of Congress (I), improved as CPI (M) could not do well in this election.
In the mid-term election held in February 1 998, the number of total voters was 23201 3
and the number of votes polled was 147698. Among these polled votes Congress (!) got
52,365, BJP got 51821, and the newly emerged regional party Andaman & Nicobar Congress
Election Trend in Bay Island's Parliamentary Constituency 571
got 29,687 votes. The birth of this new regional party was due to the split in Congress (!). in
this election Congress (I) candidate won the election by a very narrow margin and the result
was an alarming threat to the candidate of Congress (I). The winning of Congress (I) candidate
by a very narrow margin was due to two reasons. First an anti-congress wave was blowing all
over there in the mainland and the Islanders sensed BJP led government at the centre.
The second reason was that of the splitting party. A well-organised group of local born
people sidelined themselves due to some internal disputes of the party in the name of Andaman
& Nicobar Congress.
In the mid-term election of September 1 999, the total number of voters in these Islands
were 247384, of which 147102 voters cast their votes. Congress party bagged 62,944 votes,
BJP bagged 76,891 votes and others got only 5956 votes. It was the first time in the parliamentary
election in Andaman & Nicobar Islands that the Congress party candidate was defeated by
the candidate of other party. It reveals the real trend of the voting behaviour of voters of these
Islands and establishes a concrete base of the trend of the voters imitating the national
political flow. The voters sensed the increasing popularity of the BJP in the mainland and
prepared themselves for saying goodbye to the old Congress candidate who for decades had
succeeded to win the faith of the voters of these Islands.
Thus, the national political atmosphere has always impressed the Islands politics and
its result has been affecting the political atmosphere of these Islands since the very beginning.
In the election of 1 998, the islanders were in dilemma and lastly majority voter voted in favour
of Congress (I) candidate. When the result was flashed the people understood the political
atmosphere of the country and made up their mind to support the party, which was forming
government at centre. The chance came immediately to the voters to rectify themselves in
the mid-term election of 1 999. They voted in favour of BJP and made its candidate victorious.
However, in the last election (2004), the INC got a favourable atmosphere against NDA
government. Therefore, the INC candidate M.R. Bhakta re-gained his power in 2004
Parliamentary election by defeated BJP candidate by a margin of 30500 votes.
Thus, the Table - 2 not only shows the political party affiliation of the voters of these
islands, but also shows the increasing rate of voters in every election. It is evident that the
number of voters has increased in every election in a considerable measure. The important
reason of this increase in number of voters is not due to increase in birth rate but due to the
migration of people from the mainland to these Islands.
The Indian Journal of Political Science
572
VOTING BEHAVIOUR OF THE VOTERS (GRAPH - 1 )
SOURCE : Office of the Chief Electoral officer, A & N Administration, Port Biair.
Graph 1 reveals another aspect of voting-behavioural trends of the people of the Islands
in last eight consecutive Lok Sabha elections. It is observed from the records shown in graph
1 that in every election when the number of voters have increased, the percentage of voters
turning out for exercising franchise has decreased in considerable measures from 1 980 to
2004. The cause of increasing number of voters are due to migration of people from the
mainland to these Islands and the reduction in age bar of adult franchise from 21 years to 1 8
years in 1989 elections.
In 1980 parliamentary election the numberof voters in Andaman and Nicobar Islands
was 96,084, among which only 81,146 voters exercised their franchise meaning that 84 %
voters cast their votes.
In 1984 general election, the number of voters increased by 19481 and total voters
became 1 ,15,565, out of which 91 ,093, voters exercised their votes and it was 79% of the total
"voters.
In 1989 parliamentary elections the number of voters increased very much to near
about by 45,293. In this election the total voters in.Andaman & Nicobar Islands were 1 ,60,940,
and the voters who exercised their franchise were 1 ,1 5,409, which was 72% of the total voters.
Election Trend in Bay Island's Parliamentary Constituency 573
in 1 991 Lok Sabha election, there were 169038 voters, out of which 1 08822 exercised
their franchise which was 64% of the total voters.
In 1 996, there were total 2,1 1 ,226 voters in Andaman & Nicobar Islands, among which
1 ,30,91 8 voters exercised their franchise which was 62% of the total voters.
in mid-term election of 1 998, the total voters were 2,32,01 3. In this election, 1 ,47,698
voters exercised their voting power. The notable point in this election was that the percentage
of votes polled increased by 1 % as compared to previous election. The reason of this increase,
perhaps, was that the BJP was gaining popularity at the national level and many voters who
did not exercised their franchise in the previous election came forward to support the newly
emerged party. It is evident that for the first time BJP candidate bagged 31 ,097 votes, a
remarkable number of votes, which alarmed the Congress candidates M.R. Bhakta who had
remained a charismatic leader of A&N Islands since 1 977.^
In the mid-term election of 1 999, the number of total voters was 2,47,384 and the
number of votes polled were 1,47,102. It means only 59% voters cast their votes. It was the
lowest percentage of participation by voters since 1 967 election.
In 2004 Lok Sabha election, the percentage of votes cast was raised by around 4%
from the previous mid-term election in 1 999.
The Indian Journal of Political Science
Reasons for decline in votes polled are: -
574
The general elections of Lok Sabha including Andaman & Nicobar constituency since
1 967 has revealed the trends of votes polled (in percentage). The chart shows the turn out of
votes (in percentage) in the elections from 1 967 to 2004, the turn out of Islands' vote is higher
than all India level. Specially the turn out of votes polled for Island’s constituency from 1967 to
1 989 was more than 70% on an average, whereas, all India level turn out of votes polled was
in between 55% and 62%. Since 1 989 elections, the turn out of votes polled in percentage has
fallen down remarkably both at national as well as Islands level.
The reasons behind decline in votes polled are:'^ -
1 . Frequent changes of governments at the centre and declaration of mid-term elections.
2. No issue could pursue the educated voters about the usefulness of their exercise of
voting rights.
3. Political parties have failed to convince the voters towards polling booths.
Though the outcome of last 10 times Lok Sabha elections results say that Islands
voters are more conscious and enthusiastic in exercising their franchise. They are more
positive towards their democratic rights.
From the analysis of the results of elections from 1 967 to 1 998 one more thing attract,
our attention that during the Congress domination the turn out of voters decreased in percentage
in every subsequent election upto 1 996. The reason for this decrease in voters was losing their
faith in Congress (I). The verdict of 1998 election brings a new message that they wanted
some change in the leadership in these Islands and their intention was materialized in the
next mid-term election in 1 999.^
Though religions and caste have no traces on the process of election campaign in
these Islands, language has succeeded to have its traces on election of different political
parties. As Bengali-speaking population remained the largest linguistic group in AN! upto the
1 991 , they have always favoured the Bengali candidate for Lok Sabha election. Shri. Bhakta
was given nomination by the Congress Party in 1 977 election realizing the importance of the
vote bank of Bengali population. He being from a settler family of East Bengal refugee got the
wholehearted support of the Bengali people qf the Islands. Hence the Bhakta emerged as
political heavy weight in 1 977 by winning the only Lok Sabha seat, and has been able to retain
the seat in all the subsequent elections upto 1 998. However in the 1 999 mid-term election,
Mr. Bhakta was replaced by Shri. B.P. Roy, a BJP Candidate though not from Bengali refugee
family, but has been able to make a place in the hearts of Bengali people. It is again the role
qf Bengali voters that the CPl(M) candidate Mrs. Neleema Das in (1984) and Mr. T.K.
Bepari(1 989, 1 991 ) secured a good number of votes in these elections. The Bengali people
Election Trend in Bay Island's Parliamentary Constituency S75
being the largest linguistic group have an effective hand in making the fate of candidates and
nobody can deny the fact.
Moreover, it has been observed that the Nicobarese tribal voters (who constitute a good
number of votes) have had a loyalty towards Congress party since the Lok Sabha elections
began in the ANI. The people and leaders of Nicobarese have been in touch with Congress
leaders from Nehru to Rajiv Gandhi. It is stated the Nicobar is a secured vote bank for
Congress Party. None of the other political parties has influence over Nicobarese voters.
Even the leaders and captains of Nicobarese would never allow the non-Congress candidate
even to launch election campaign.
WOMEN’S ROLE IN ISLANDS' PARLIAMENTARY ELECTION :
However, the position of the female workers in Islands politics has not been encouraging.
It is so because none of the party has given adequate representation and due importance to
women party workers in the election system. In the parliamentary elections, male members
contested the lone Lok Sabha seat. Only on one occasion, in 1 984, CPl(M), filled the nomination
of a lady member for. Lok Sabha seats, who was not a resident of these Islands. After that in
1 999, from NCP another lady member (as she is the NCP Chief of this Islands unit) contested
in the above Lok Sabha.®
CONCLUSION :
The people of these Islands got the right of exercising franchise in the year 1967, i.e,
after three consecutive general elections for Lok Sabha had passed. It was the deprivation of
people from their democratic participation. The Islands being far-flung from the mainland India
other national political party influence also could not touch the feeling of the voters. Therefore
one party domination had been seen for over three decades. The absence of strong opposition
party in face of Islands politics is unfair and unhealthy for the growth of a true derriocracy. The
analysis of last ten consecutive Lok Sabha election results as regards the percentage of
voters turning out at the polling station is again disappointing. This gradual decrease in
participation of voters conveys a bad message for the democratic process of the Islands. The
frequent mid-term elections and the false promises of the candidates have been the main
reasons for this passive attitude of the voters. On the political front also the privileges enjoyed
by few people at the cost of others have been another cause of this passive attitude. The
voters have lost their faith in the candidates of different political parties. The large numbers of
unemployed youths have been fed-up with the problem of their lives and have lost interest in
politics and political process.’’
it is the sacred duty of every voter that he /she does play valuable role in favour of an
eligible candidate. Likewise the political parties should also understand the psychology of
voters. They should work for the legitimate interest and aspiration of the voters.
570
The Indian Journal of Political Science
National political atmosphere has always impressed the Islands' politics and has also
resulted in changing the behaviour of voters. Community has always played an important and
positive role in the political world. No political parties could ignore the community interests
and influence^. Island’s politics was not an exception to this. Bengali community has dominated
the Island’s parliamentary election.
The regional parties have not had good impact or parliamentary elections and politics.
The alliance politics has not been able to leave any significant impact on the islands' politics.
Many leaders emerged in politics and changed their parties and political ideologies, used
community sentiments for their own narrow sectarian political interests. The voters are sharply
divided on the basis of community. Regional feelings which have become a challenge for the
unity of the ward’s political integrity.
REFERENCE
1 . Andaman & Nicobar Admn. ; Annual General Administration Report, 1 962, 1 967, 1 982,
1987, A & N Gazetter.
2. Biswas, S.K. : Port Blair City Politics : a Changing scenario, 51 (4), 2004 ASI, Kolkata.
3. Ashirbatham, E. : Language & politics of A & N Islands Ph.D (Thesis) (Unpublished)
University of Mysore.
4. Dweep Vani : Election analysis, Jun 1 6-31 1 998, Port Blair.
5. Gupta , D.C. : Indian Govt. Politics Vikas Publishing Home, New Delhi, 1978.
6. Office of the Chief Electoral Officer, A & N Administration, Port Blair.
Mann, R.S : The Bay Islanders, Institute of Social Research and Applied Anthropology
(n.d) Calcutta.
7.
The Indian Journal of Political Science
Vol. LXVIll, No. 3, July-Sept., 2007
TRIBAL POLITICS OF TRIPURA :
A STUDY IN ELECTORAL BEHAVIOUR
Alak Bhattacharya
Political perception is one of the indicating factors in order to identify any caste or
tribes or nation. It is an essential precondition of socio-political development of a
community. The main objective of the study is to show the motives of political
participation of tribal people of Tripura in electoral politics since 1972 - 2003 .This
period has taken for study because since 1972 Tripura was granted the status of a full-
fledged state and the analysis has been made in respect of general elections of Lok
Sabha and Assembly elections of Tribal Areas of Tripura. The paper deals with the
mass movement of the tribal people of Tripura, which made them politically conscious
and relevantly it will also be discussed why the Left Front is so popular in the hill areas
of Tripura
The Behaviouralists have popularized the concept of political participation in Political
Science. Arguments in favour of greater political participation had been advanced by republican
and democratic theorists from Rousseau onwards and are still used by contemporary political
theorists. Of course, the most obvious way of participation is casting one’s vote. Voting is a
symbol of participation in decisions of all groups, political and otherwise. In this connection
the pattern of electoral behaviour of people of Tribal areas in T ripura can be assessed through
its political history.
The struggle of the tribal people of T ripura against some tyrannical attitude of the rulers
has a long history. The Kuki Raid of 1 860 was not purely made by the Kukis only. Choudhury
(1 983) observed: ‘It was a wider movement in which certain sections of the dissatisfied subjects
of the king took part. It was a rebellion against the feudal authority and misrule of the T ripura
king’"'. Jamatia revolt (1863) based on not-to-pay-tax was one of the important democratic
movements against the autocratic administration of the feudal lords. The revolt shook the vary
basis of the unconditional support to the feudal lords. The Reang revolt (1942 - 43) led by
Ratanmani Noatia created a great shake in the history of the democratic movement. Tarit
Mohan Dasgupta observed : “Reang revolt was not less in any case than the ‘Bardouli’
Satyagraha movement or the Champaran Satyagraha movement."^
The Swadeshi movement in Bengal (1 905) had Influenced the people of T ripura. During
the period of anti-partition movement two training centers of Anushilan Samity were launched
at Udaipur and Belonia to give the primary shelters to the revolutionaries who were forced to
leave the British India. Sachindra Lai Singh, Umesh Lai Singh, Prashant Debbarma (the elder
brother of Kumar Sachin Debbarma), and Kunjeswar Debbarma and Narayan Baneijee took
the membership of Anushilan samity.^
The Social Reform Movement(1 946 - 49) of the Lushai’s had been started against irrational
power of the Lushai chiefs under the banner of ‘Tripura Lushai Union’, and it succeeded when
the chief commissioner R.K Roy declared that privileges and powers exercised by the chiefs
The Indian Journal of Political Science
should be abolished."*
578
The Janashiksha movement (1 945 - 1 948 )under the banner of ‘TRIPURA JANASHIKSHA
SAMITY’ led by Biren Datta, Nilmani Debbarma, Aghore Debbarma, Dasarath Deb and
Sudhanwa Debbarma was a milestone in the history of Tripura. At that time, education was
confined to the upper class people. There was a ‘Kumar boarding’ at Ranirbazar of Comiila
and ‘Thakur boarding’ at Agartala for the education of royal families and thakur families
respectively. Samity approached Bir Bikram and sought his help in opening primary school in
the hills. The good response, which the Janasiksha Samity received from the king, was evident
from 400 schools, which came up at different places of T ripura within a year.® Besides removing
illiteracy, the Janasiksha samity started a movement against squeezing of the T ribals by the
Mahajans. Bose (1996) observed: ‘The Samitis activities created a stir among the tribal by
bringing in their hearts the nationalist urge, self-respect and political consciousness for the
development of independent culture in the life style of the tribal community.’® However,
Janasiksha Samity ceased to exist in 1 948 when Communist Party was banned.
At this point, Tripura Rajya Praja MandaP formed in 1946 led by Jogesh Chandra
Debbarma, Birchandra. Debbarma etc .Soon Prajamandal came to be reckoned as an alarming
political force of Tripura, in a brochure ‘Prajar Dabi’ (Demands of people), it was called for
introduction of popular government in Tripura.® It is noted that a 3 members delegation
comprising of Birchandra Debbarma , Biren Dutta and Sudhwana Debbarma, on behalf of
Prajamandal, participated as a fraternal delegate to All India States People’s conference held
atGuwalior in 1946 underthe presidency of Jawaharlal Nehru. .
The partition brought with it much complication for Tripura. It lost a very fertile and plain
land of several hundred square miles of hitherto zamindari territory { Chakla Roshnabad),
which was one of the saddest tales of political unwisdom ever shown in the history of
Tripura.® In November 1947, regent Maharani declared that the present status of Chakla
Roshnabad would remain, in the same as it had been since 15th August 1947. Another
glaring calamity loomed large ahead in the form of a menacing refugee problem. A conspiracy
was also hatched at that time to merge Tripura with Pakistan. Under the circumstances,
communist leaders thought to form Mukti Parishad.
On the other hand, the second congress of the Communist Party of India held in Koikata
in March 1948, took the ‘Path of armed struggle for national liberation’"'®. As a result the
communist leaders Deba Prasad Sengupta ,Kanu Sengupta and others were arrested . in
this tension-surcharged atmosphere, the ‘Tripura Rajya Mukti Parishad’ came into existence
in August 1948 at Kumaribill of North Sadar Subdivision. Dasarath Deb and Aghor Debbarma
were elected as the president and the general secretary respectively."'^ Its movement was
spearheaded to resist subjugation by violent means .The Golaghati incident*® gave birth to an
entirely new situation. The Mukti Parishad raised its guerilla unit, known as Santi Sena Bahini
.A tribal women’s force as an auxiliary force of the guerilla unit was also formed."'® After the
579
Tribal Politics of Tripura
Golaghati incident, the Padmabil massacre^"^ took place in the first part of 1 949. Naturally
Mukti Parishad started agitation against the Dewani Rule.
Conversely, due to the order of military rule (9 March 1 949) in the entire Khowai Division,
Mukti Parishad decided to make its own administration from the Patnipara conference (April
1 949) in the Sadar Division. Different committees like political, military, arbitration etc. were
set up as in government departments.''^ Besides political activities, Mukti Parishad started
socio-cultura! reforms like ban on child marriage, regulations on jamai khata^® , regulations on
brides price, restrictions on polygamy, ban on uneven marriage, confirming women’s right to
property, ban on witch hunting etc. ‘Go with gun and song together’ - was the slogan raised
by the Mukti Parishad during the days of movement. After the killing of three girls at Padmabil,
the Mukti Parishad raised few Kok-Barak cultural troupes in 1 949. in the same year, Mahendra
Debbarma composed Kok-Borak song on Golaghati killings entitled ‘Golaghati Kothma’ with a
view to inspire the people to join mass movement in greater number. Thus, cultural movement
was linked up with the people’s movement.
After the independence of India, with the influxes of refugees, some ethno-centric tribal
organizations came into being in 1 947 with a view of protecting the tribal interest in the territory;
and in the long run the tribal movement in Tripura achieved its success with the introduction of
Autonomous District Council (April 1, 1985, under sixth schedule).
These mass movements reflected in the existence of large scale voting trend of the tribal
areas which is numerically more than national level. The table given below shows the fact.
Comparison between east Tripura ST constituencies and all India level in successive
elections of Lok Sabha :
Co!umn-A
Column-B
Column -C
Year
Vote % in India
Vote % in east T ripura
1971
55.30
62.65
1977
60.50
66.99
1980
56.90
79.30
1984
64.00
76.37
1989
62.00
80.75
1991
61.00
61.91
1996
57.90
76.60
1998
61.90
77.51
1999
59.99
66.03
Source -Co!umnA&B;Lok Sabha Election 2004:, Jnan Bichitra Referance Manual Series.Agartala,2004,p.49.Coiumn
C: Jnan Bichitra Referance Manual Series,Agaftala,2004,pp 86-94.(PercGntage calculated through No. of electors
and polled voters.)
The !ndlari Journal of Political Science
580
The foilowing bar diagram can be drawn from this table.
CbiBparison of voting Trend between all India level and
East Tripura ST constituency of Lok Sabha
■ % for India B % for east tripyra
From the above diagram it is clear that the voting percentage in east Tripura is much
better than the all India level. Let us prove it by testing (Taking the help of MINITAB soft wire)
since 1 971 to 1 996 Lok Sabha election.
Let us consider the null hypothesis (Ho) ® The voting percentage in east
Tripura is higher than the all India level. The observed frequencies and the corresponding
expected frequencies are as below:
Year
1971
1977
1980
1984
1989
1991
1996
Total
All India level
Observed frequency
55
60
57
64
62
61
58
417
Expected frequency
53.37
57.44
61.51
63.32
64.68
55.63
61 06
East Tripura
Observed frequency
63
67
79
76
81
62
77
505
Expected frequency
64.63
69.56
74.49
76.68
78.32
67.37
73.94
Total
118
12
136
140
14
123
135
922
Let Oj be the observed frequency and E the corresponding expected frequency.
X-=X(0.-E.)2/E| =0.050+ 0.114+ 0.331 + 0.007+ 0.111 + 0.518+ 0.153 +
0.041 + 0.094+ 0 273+ 0.006+ 0.091 + 0.428+ 0.126 = 2.344
DF = (c-1)(r“1) = (7-1)(2-1) = 6, The table value of x^ at 6 df and .05 significant level is 12.59
which is much higher than the calculated value and hence the null hypothesis is accepted i.e.
581
Tribal Politics of Tripura
the voting percentage in east T ripura is much more than the all India level.
Dominancy of the Left Front
This trend of voting behaviour reflects in the succession of Left Front in the general
election of Lok Sabha ST constituency and assembly elections since 1 972 - 2003 . In the first
general election of Lok Sabha and of the Tripura Electoral College in 1952, the Communist
Party could capture most of the seats from the constituencies having predominantly tribal
voters. In 1 957, CPI (M) had lost the majority. The swing of the pendulum again moved toward
the Communist Party except in 1 988 election. Even during the Congress period also Communist
Party was predominant in tribal areas. It can be understood from the table below :
Reserved for ST Constituencies in Assembly Election since 1972-2003.
Column-A
Year
Column-B
Total Seat
Column-C
Left Front
Column-D
Cong-Alliance
(Cong.7rUJS/lNPT
Co!umn-E
Independent
1972
19
12
07
1977
17
15
02
1983
17
09
07
01
1988
17
09
08
1993
20
16
03
01
1998
20
15
05
2003
20
13
07
Source:ColumnA&B ; Electors at a glance in the state of Tripura in different elections since 1952-2003, Election
Dept., Govt, of Tripura.p.l. Column C&d;Bidhan Sabha Nirbachan-2003, (in Bang.) .{Assembly Election-
2003), Tripura Darpan, a daily local paper,pp.42-62.
Following line diagram can be drawn from this table, which shows the dominant position
of Left Parties in tribal areas.
*- Cong Alliance
Cong./TUJS/INPTj
The Indian Journal of Political Science
582
Also in Lok Sabha election CPI (M) has been leading in the east Tripura ST constituencies.
The table given below shows the fact :
Year of Election
Name of the elected party
1971
CPIM
1977
CONG
1980
CPIM
1984
CPIM
1989
CONG
1991
CONG
1996
CPIM
1998
CPIM
1999
CPIM
Source : Bidhan Sabha Nirbachan-2003, (in Beng.) .(Assembly Election-2003) .Tripura Darpan.a daily local
paper, pp.63-64.
Squabbling of the Congress Alliance
In the 1 957, 1 962, 1 967, and 1 972 assembly elections Congress gained a majority, in
1 977 the left front gained overwhelming majority. Out of 60, left front got 56 seats and TUJS
gained in four constituencies. Certain political incidents like the defeat of the Congress at the
centre, the formation of Janata Government there, the fall of the Sengupta Ministry in T ripura.,
the split between Janata party and Tripura CFD happened rapidly and that helped the left front
to come into power. The ill feeling between Sachindra Lai Singha and Sukhamay Sengupta
weakened the congress."*® Organizationally, the Congress here suffered from apoplexy at the
center and anemia at the circumference.’*® Since 1 983 state politics generally polarized between
two blocks - the Congress-TUJS block in one hand and CPI (M) led left front on the other.
Congress - TUJS alliance came into power in 1 988. But Congress suffered a set back by her
in-party squabbling.^® As a result Sudhir Ranjan Majumder resigned from the post of Chief
Minister and Samir Ranjan Barman became the Chief Minister. Congress was split again.
Sudhir Ranjan joined in Trinamul Congress in 1999 Lok Sabha election. After a few days most
of the leaders of T rinainul including Sudhir Ranjan returned to the Congress. Similarly, Tripura
Upajati Juba Samiti (TUJS) split again and again. The break-away groups formed indigenous
Peoples Front of T ripura (IPFT) and Tripura Tribal National council (TTNC). In 2001 all groups
of the former TUJS gave birth to a common platform, the Indigenous National Party of Tripura
Tribal Politics of Tripura gg^
(INPT), which again in 2003 had split with the break way group forming a new outfit National
Socialist Party of Tripura (NSPT). In 2001 a third political block emerged with the conglomeration
of BJP(Bharatiya Janata Party), Trinannul Congress and IPFT. In the last Assembly Election
(2003), IPFT joined with Congress alliance. On the eve of 2004 Lok Sabha election TUJS,
TNV(Tripura National Volunteers), IPFT i.e. INPT again seceded the alliance with Congress
and joined NDA.
Descending Trend of Tribal Voters
The voting percentage of T ripura is numerically higher than all India level. But at the
same time, percentage of tribal voters has been decreased. Presently there are 60 assembly
constituencies out of which 20 are reserved for ST. These are: 1 -Simna, 1 1 -Mandaibazar, 1 2-
Takarjala, 17-Golaghati,18-Charilam, 23-Ramchandraghat, 25-Asharambari, 26-Promodnagar,
28-Krishnapur, 30-Bagma, 37-Shantirbazar, 39-Julaibari,40-Manu, 42-Ampinagar, 44-
Raimavalley. 47-Salema, 48-Kulai, 49-Chamanu, 58-Pacharthal and 60-Kanchanpur. Out of
those, 6 constituencies, 1 -Simna, 1 1 -Mandaibazar, 12- Takarjala, 42-Ampinagar, 49-Chamanu
and 60-Kanchanpur, remain unchanged as ST reserved since 1972-2003.
Voters trend in Six ST reserved assembly constituencies since 1972-2003 and east
Tripura ST Lok Sabha constituency since 1977 - 1999.
AaartalaS42 64^ published by Tripura Darpan, a local daily newspaper ,
oStos'and calculated through no,
Time?eries analysis”' l-PPat apaare approximation method
1 -Simna
Coi.A
Col.B
CoI.C 1
Year
Voters % Forecast
1972
74
81.44
1977
84
80.57
1983
82
79.53
1988
85
78.66
1993
80
77.79
1998
72
76.92
2003
74
76.05
49 - Chamanu
The Indian Journal of Political Science
11- Mandai
Col. A
Col.B
Col.C
Year
Voters %
Forecast
1972
64.77
73.81
1977
78.23
73.82
1983
79.59
73.84
1988
78.25
73.86
1993
72.2
. 73.88
1998
74,22
73.89
2003
69.75
73.91
Trend Aialysis for Voters %
12 - Takariala
Year
Voters percentage
Forecast
1972
63.41
74.49
1977
76.67
74.22
1983
77.77
73.91
1988
83.78
73.64
1993
78.02
73.37
1998
73.92
73.11
2003
62.01
72.84
Trend Analysis for Voters %
14- Ampinagar
Trend Analysis for Voters %
Col-aYear
Col-bVoters %
Col-c
Forecast
1972
58.31
66.62
1977
71.85
68.85
1983
73.98
7l64
1988
82.36
73.96
1993
78.13
76.29
Tribal Politics of Tripura
60 “ Kanchanpur
585
Trend Analysis fOT Voters %
The above diagrams has been drawn by the help of MINITAB softwire (Time series
analysis) The dotted !ine(Fits) in the above diagrams represent the Voting trend (expected)
since 1 972 - 2003 . The smooth line (Actual) represent the observed frequency data .From
these diagrams it is drawn that the Voting trend is decreasing .
in case of 1-Simna, the expected voting trend is decreasing. Moreover, the observed
frequencies are much less since 1 993 .
In case of 1 1 -Mandai, the trend is slightly decreasing . In 1 993, observed frequency
decreased than expected trend .Though in 1998 it is slightly increased , but in 2003 it again
decreased than the expected trend
In case of 12 -Takarjala, the expected trend is decreasing . From 1977 - 1988, the
observed frequencies are much higher than the expected trend and in 1 988, it reached the
peak .But since 1 988, the observed frequencies are coming down gradually.
In case of 42-Ampinagar, 49-Chamanu , 60 - Kanchanpur the expected trends are
strictly increasing. But since 1 998, observed frequency are being less than expected trend.
The same is observed in Lok Sabha election of east Tripura ST constituency. The
following chart Shows the fact :
The Indian Journal of Political Science
586
From this trend, supposition can be pinched that 1) Insurgency problem could affect
the voters; 2)Electors may be frustrated in the contemporary politics. It is important to note
here that in 1 980, Tripura witnessed an ethnic riot causing a divesting political dynamic in the
state. A section of TU JS went to underground and in 1 989 TNV returned to the mainstream of
life. But the tribal rebellion did not end. The TNV upsurge was followed by the emergence of a
dozen of framed outfits such as NLFT(National Liberation Front of Tripura), ATTF(Aii T ripura
Tiger Force), TRA(Tripura Rageraction Army), and BNLF{Bru National Liberation Front) etc. It
is noted that in 1947, ‘Seng-Krak’ was formed by a group of militant tribal. Its leaders were
known for its Bangal Kheda (Remove the Bengalee People) movement. However, the organization
was declared outlawed for its violent activities. After the Seng-krak was banned, the ‘Paharia
Union’ came into being in July 1951. Other organizations ‘Adhibashi Samiti’ and ‘Adhibashi
Sangha’ were formed in 1952. and 1953 respectively. In 1954, ‘Adhibashi Samsad’ came into
existence a*s a result of the fusion of the previous associations. It undertook some movement
programmed for inclusion of the tribal in the administration, in 1 955, ‘Tribal Union’ formed at
Agartala. It was renamed ‘ Eastern India T ribal Union’. It raised slogan for a T ribal State. The
Seng-Krak appeared for the second time in 1967 at Dasda Kanchanpur, North Tripura.
Organizations like Seng-Krak, TNV, ATTF, NLFT, achieved nothing of their desired objectives
except fomenting communal passions.
Conclusion : We can reach to the conclusion from the above analysis that there were
so many movements and countless sacrifices behind the development of consciousness of
Tribal people of Tripura. Political participation is an important indicator of democratic functioning
of a social system. But one observable fact in the Indian election studies is the almost criminal
neglect of the problem of non-voting. If electoral behaviour was to be taken as an indicator of
the success of parliamentary democracy, then the existence of large scale non-voting would
mean that the Indian Parliamentary Democracy is really non-working. About 40% of the people
are non-voting.^^ it is in this sphere of political participation, the tribes of T ripura have played a
fabulous role and Communist Party was a gainer by organizing the people through the
Janamongol Samity, Janashiksha Samity and Tripura Rajya Ganamuktiparishad. But at the
same time, downward percentage of polled vote since 1988 to 2003 is very alarming for the
critical political situation in the Tribal areas of Tripura.
Notes and References :
1 . N.Roy. Choudhury, Tripura Through the Ages, Vol.1 , (Sterling Publishers Private Limited,
New Delhi, 1 983), p.36.
2. T.M . Dasgupta, Bidrohi Reang Neta Ratan Mani, (in Bengali), ( T ribal Research Institute,
Govt, of Tripura ,1993), p.36.
Tribal Politics of Tripura 587
3. Dinesh Saha, Bingsa Satabdir Tripura, (in Bengali), Vol.1,Pt 1, (Maumita
Publication, Agartala, 2003), pp.128 and 129.
4. Letter from R.K.Roy , Chief Commisioner , Tripura, To Chairman, Tripura Lushai Union,
No. 1 5 26/CA/66,dt 24 Nov. 1 949
5. Bijan Mohanta, Tripura In The. Light of Socio-Political Movements Since 1945,
(Progressive Publishers,Kolkata, Feb-2004), p.23.
6. P.K. Bose, The Communist Movement in Tripura, ( Progressive Publisher, Cal-73, 1996)
p.24.
7. Manimay Debbarma , Tripura Praja Andolan : Kichu Tathya , (in Bengali), (Peoples
movement in Tripura; some facts), in Dainik Sambad, A Bengali Daily,Agartala, Dec 1 ,
1977.
8. Tripur Chandra Sen ,Tripura In Transition (1927-37 A.D) , (Agartala, 1970), p.68
9. ibid, p.6
10. M.B.Rao , edn :7 :629 .Documents of the History of the Communist Party of India, New
Delhi.
11. Dasarath Deb, Mukti Parishadar Itikatha , (Beng), (History of the birth of the Mukti
Parishad) .{National Book Agency, Cal , 1 987), p.1 8.
1 2. Golaghati killings took place on 9th October 1 948 . Six T ribal peasants and one Bengali
Muslim were killed in an malicious police firing.
13. Dasarath Deb, op.cit.p. 18
14. Three Tribal girls - Kumari, Madhuti and Rupasree (Debbarma) were killed in police
firing when the women’s force came out at Khamapara of Padmabil to resist Titun . The
army used to urge the T ribal women folk and children to carry their luggage under the
medieval ‘ Titung system’
15. P. K. Bose, op.cit. p.48
1 6. Jamai khata means compulsory apprenticeship of the bridegroom as a farm hand at
the house of the would be father-in-law. The custom was prevalent in the Tripuri
community.
17. Bijan Mohanta.op.cit, p.48.
18. Jagadish Ganchaudhuri, A Political History of Tripura, p.83.
The Indian Journal of Political Science 588
19 ibid, p.69
20. Jnan Bichitra Expert Group, Lok Sabha Election-2004, (Jnan Bichitra Prakashani,
Agartala,April,2004),p.80.
21 . Manorama Sharma, A Note on Electoral Behaviour in Assam-Pattern of Non-Voting, in
the book of Electoral Politics In North East India, P.S.Dutta, (ed),Omson Publications,
New Delhi, 1 986), p.47.
The Indian Journal of Political Science
Vol. LXVIll, No. 3, July-Sept., 2007
STATUS OF WOMEN IN POLITICS
A. Tharsikodi
M.Sugirtha
Women around the world at every socio-political level find themselves under-represented
in parliament and far removed from decision-making levels. While the political playing-
field in each country has its own particular characteristics, one feature remains common
to all: it is uneven and not conducive to women's participation. Throughout the world
women face obstacles to their participation in politics. These barriers are to be found in
prevailing social and economic regimes, as well as in existing political structures. In the
Indian context, and particularly for women, the public career of a person depends a
great deal on her family background. Most women themselves are also unwilling to
engage in the type of activities which seem necessary for election to public office. Their
proportion in the Parliament as well as State Legislatures and other top political hierarchies
is not very significant. Their participation in politics as voters, candidates, campaigners
and office-holders in political parties, on an equal footing with men, still remains a dream.
They have yet to realize the value of their political role. In this context, this paper makes
an attempt to study status of women in politics at international level, regional level and
national level.
Status of women in politics can be defined as the degree of equality and freedom
enjoyed by women in the shaping and sharing of power and in the value given by society to
this role of women^
The UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said on the eve of International Women’s Day
that “the role of women in decision-making was central to the advancement of women around
the world and to the progress of humankind as a whole. There was still far to go in ensuring
that half of the world’s population took up its rightful place in the world’s decision-making’’^.
Women around the world at every socio-political level find themselves under-represented
in national parliaments and far removed from decision-making levels. While the political playing-
field in each country has its own particular characteristics, one feature remains common to
all: it is uneven and not conducive to women's participation. Women who want to enter politics
find that the political, public, cultural and social environment are often unfriendly or even
hostile to them^.
The sweep of women’s political subordination encompasses the great variety of cultures,
economic arrangements, and regimes in which they live. In most cultures there is a complex
matrix of political power composed of many social hierarchies, of which gender is only one
component. Nonetheless, men of any group are more able to be active in politics than the
women of their group^
The Worldwide Government Directory contains information on all United Nations Member
States and other Observer States, with Information provided for a total of 187 countries^,
regarding representation of women at Cabinet level and sub-ministerial level. The details are
The Indian Journal of Political Science 590
the following:
Representation of women at Cabinet level
The number of female ministers worldwide doubled in the last decade from 3.4 per cent
in 1 996 to 6.8 per cent in 2004. In 48 countries, there were no women ministers at all. Women
ministers remain concentrated in social issues (14%) compared to legal (9.4%), economic
(4.1%), political affairs (3.4%) and the executive (3.9%). A "critical mass" of 30 per cent
women at the ministerial level has been achieved in five countries - Barbados, Finland,
Liechtenstein, Seychelles and Sweden. Ten additional countries have 20-29 per cent women
at the ministerial level, including seven from the Europe/Others region - Andorra, Austria,
Denmark, Ireland, Luxembourg, Netherlands and Norway - and three from the Caribbean,
Grenada, Haiti and St. Vincent and the Grenadines. In the Asia and Pacific region and Eastern
Europe, very little progress has been achieved, with the proportion of women ministers being
less than 5 per cent.
Representation of women at Sub-ministerial level
In 1 36 countries, women held no ministerial positions concerned with the economy. In
the Asia and Pacific region, women ministers held positions in only 2% of all economic
ministries. Globally, only 9.9 per cent of all sub-ministerial positions (Deputy Minister,
Permanent Secretary and Deputy Permanent Secretary) were held by women. In sectoral
terms, women were slightly better represented in social ministries in the Europe/Others and
the Asia and Pacific regions, while they were better represented in legal ministries in Africa
and Latin America and the Caribbean. A "critical mass" of 30 per cent women at the sub-
ministerial level has been achieved in six countries - Andorra, Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas,
Costa Rica, San Marino and the United States. In eight countries, the proportion of women at
the subministerial has reached 25 per cent or more - Australia, Dominica, El Salvador,
Macedonia, New Zealand, Philippines, Sweden, and St. Kitts and Nevis. In seven additional
states, the proportion of women at the subministerial level has reached 20 percent or more -
Barbados, Colombia, Croatia, Grenada, Guatemala, Guyana and Norway .
However, statistics show that women are gradually making their way into the political
arena. Women accounted for 1 0 percent of the members of legislative bodies in 1 995. Today
they make up 1 5.6 percent of parliamentarians worldwide, according to the Inter-Parliamentary
Union. The number of countries with a critical mass of women parliamentarians - defined as
being at least 30 percent - has increased from five in 1 997 to 1 6 in 2004®.
In 1 995, women had accounted for 1 1 .3 per cent of legislators in the world parliaments.
In 2005, they represented 16.3 per cent of legislators, a small 5 per cent increase over 10
Status of Women in Politics
591
years. In 1 995, Sweden had topped the ranking of women in parliament with 40.4 per cent.
Ten years later, political developments in other parts of the world, most notably Africa and
Latin America, brought Rwanda to the top of the world classification, with 48.8 per cent
women in elected office. While the situation was moderately encouraging, more than moderate
progress was needed. If current incremental rates continued, an average of 30 per cent of
women in parliament would not be reached until 2025. True parity would have to wait until
2040^.
There are many reasons why women are under-represented in politics despite repeated
international and national commitments to equality. Even a quick glance at the current
composition of political decision-makers in any region provides evidence that women still face
numerous obstacles in articulating and shaping their own destiny®.
Political Obstacles
Among the political obstacles that women face, the following feature prominently ;
> The prevalence of the "masculine model" of political life and of elected governmental
bodies. Men dominate the political arena; men formulate the rules of the political game;
and men define the standards for evaluation. Furthermore, political life is organized
according to male norms and values, and in some cases, even male lifestyles. For
example, the political model is based on the idea of "winners and losers", competition
and confrontation, rather than on mutual respect, collaboration and consensus building.
This environment is alien to women, both to their nature and to their experiences. The
existence of this male-dominated model results in either women rejecting politics
altogether or rejecting male-style politics. Thus, when women do participate in politics,
they tend to do so in small numbers®.
> The lack of party support, such as limited financial support for women candidates;
limited access to political networks; and the prevalence of double standards. Women
play important roles in campaigning and mobilizing support for their parties, yet they
rarely occupy decision-making positions in these structures. In fact, less than 1 1 per
cent of party leaders world-wide are women. Although political parties possess resources
for conducting election campaigns, women do not benefit from these resources. The
selection and nomination process within political parties is also biased against women.
An "old boys club" atmosphere and prejudices inhibit and prohibit politically inclined
women from integrating themselves into their party's work. This results in an
underestimation of women as politicians by those who provide money for election
campaigns, thus further hindering women from being nominated^®.
The Indian Journal of Political Science 592 ^ I
> The lack of contact and co-operation with other public organizations such as trade - ' <
(labour) unions and women's groups. During the last decade women's parliamentary j
representation in long-standing democracies has increased. One of the critical reasons
for this rise Is the impact of women's organizations both inside and outside political 1
parties. They worked with political and government institutions to secure electoral changes
to facilitate women's nomination and election. This strategy resulted in increasing |
women's representation within legislative bodies. However, in recently developed or
partially developed democracies there is limited contact and co-operation between women
politicians and women's organizations or other broad interest organizations such as I
trade and labour unions. Moreover, women's movements and women's groups in these
parts of the world eithertend to keep their distance from women MPs, or do not invest
in organized channels of communication and lobbying on issues related to promoting
women to decision-making levels. This is the case either as a result of the lack of ^ f
awareness of the potential benefits of this networking function, or the lack of resources )
to invest in such contacts^ ^
i
> The absence of well-developed education and training systems for women's leadership j
in general, and for orienting young women toward political life in particular is one of the
obstacles faced by women. |
Socio-economic Obstacles
Ideological and psychological hindrances for women in entering politics include the
following:
> in many countries, traditions continue to emphasize, and often dictate, women’s primary
role as mothers and housewives, A traditional, strong, patriarchal value system favours
sexually segregated roles. The "traditional cultural values" militate against the
advancement, progress and participation of women in any political process. Societies
all over the world are dominated by an ideology about "a woman's place". According to
The-«ocio-economic obstacles impacting on women's participation in politics could be
classified as follows;
❖ Poverty and unemployment;
❖ Lack of adequate financier resources;
❖ Illiteracy and limited access to education and choice of professions;
❖ The dual burden ofdomestic tasks and professional obligations,
ideological and psychological hindrances
Status of Women in Politics 593
this perception, women should only play the role of "working mother", which is generally
low-paid and apolitical. In addition, in some developing societies, men even tell women
how to vote. This is the environment that many women face one in which a certain
collective image of women in traditional, apolitical roles continues to dominate. The
image of a woman leader requires that she be asexual in her speech and manners,
someone who can be identified as a woman only through nonsexual characteristics.
Often it is supposed to be unacceptable, or even shameful in the mass consciousness,
for women to be open about their feminine nature. In fact, the more authoritative and
"manly" a woman is, the more she corresponds to the undeclared male rules of the
game. That is why women politicians in general, have to overcome this difficulty of
feeling uncomfortable in the political field as though they are somewhere where they do
not belong, behaving in ways that are not natural to them. "Women don’t have the right
to cry; it’s only the privilege of men. A male MP, even a minister, can cry. It’s normal.
It’s not being emotional, it’s being intelligent. But women don’t have the right to be
weak, to cry, to show our emotions - because we live in a time when to be in politics,
we have to behave more like a man.''^ "
> Lack of confidence in themselves is one of the main reasons for women's under
representation in formal political institutions, including parliaments, governments and
political parties. With confidence and determination women can reach the highest levels
in the political process. That is why women should believe in themselves and should do
away with the widespread perception that men have to be their leaders. Women are
equal to and have the same potential as men, but only they can fight for their rights.
Women are very good campaigners, organizers and support-mobilizers, but they rarely
contest parliamentary posts. A certain culture of fear prevents women from contesting
elections and from participating in political life^^ .
> In some countries, women perceive politics as a "dirty" game. This has barred women's
confidence in their ability to confront political processes. In fact, such a perception is
prevalent world-wide. Unfortunately, this perception reflects the reality in many countries'''^
> The mass media deserves to be called the fourth branch of power because of its influence
on public opinion and public consciousness. The media in any society has two roles: to
serve as a chronicler of current events and as an informer of public opinion, thereby
fostering different points of view. Often, the mass media tends to minimize coverage of
events and organizations of interest to women. The media, including women's
publications, does not adequately inform the public about the rights and roles of women
in society: nor does it take issue with government measures for improving women's
position. Most of the world's media has yet to deal with the fact that women, as a rule,
The Indian Journal of Political Science
594
are the first victims of economic changes and reforms taking place in a country, i.e.,
they are the first to lose their jobs. The fact that women are largely alienated from the
political decision-making process is also ignored by the media
> Further, obstacles may vary with the political situation in each country, in established
democracies for example, an obstacle may be inequality within political parties where
there is a legal limitation, such as the five per cent threshold vote, which political parties
must obtain. In developing democracies, it may be access to the mass media or access
to resources for conducting an election campaign. In military or authoritarian systems,
it may be access to the political elite. Regardless of the political situation, in all countries
the electoral system must be reformed to give women the effective right to be elected.
Excluding women from positions of power and from elected bodies impoverishes the
development of democratic principles in public life and inhibits the economic development of a
society. The majority of governing institutions are dominated by men who further their own
interests. Male-dominated political Institutions of government do not promote women or women's
issues. Thus it remains imperative to emphasize that women themselves must organize and
mobilize their networks, learn to communicate their interests with different organizations, and
push for mechanisms to enhance their own representation.
The following are the some of the strategies to increase women’s capacity to participate
in decision-making suggested by the United Nations Organisations^^ ;
Actions to be taken by Governments, national bodies, the private sector, political parties,
trade unions, employers' organizations, subregional and regional bodies, non-governmental
and international organizations and educational institutions :
(a) Provide leadership and self-esteem training to assist women and girls, particularly those
with special needs, women with disabilities, and women belonging to racial and ethnic minorities
to strengthen their self-esteem and to encourage them to take decision- making positions;
(b) Have transparent criteria for decision-making positions and ensure that the selecting
bodies have a gender-balanced composition;
(c) Create a system of mentoring for inexperienced women and, in particular, offer training,
including training in leadership and decision-making, public speaking and self-assertion, as
well as in political campaigning;
(d) Provide gender-sensitive training for women and men to promote non-discriminatory
working relationships and respect for diversity in work and management styles;
(e) Develop mechanisms and training to encourage women to participate in the electoral
Status of Women in Pofitics 595
process, political activities and other leadership areas.
Women in Politics - South Asia
Pakistan
In Pakistan, 1 3 women have been elected to non-reserved, open seats on the 342-seat
National Assembly - nine from Punjab province, three from Sindh, and one from Baiochistan.
These 13 representatives come on top of 60 other women elected on especially reserved
seats in the national legislature for women, quotas established to increase political
representation by women. Similarly, 1 7 percent of seats in each of the four provincial assemblies
have also been reserved for women. As many as 11 women have been elected to the provincial
legislatures, with only one in the North West Frontier Province (NWFP)''®. There is one woman
in the Cabinet and none in the Supreme Court. During 2001 , the Musharraf Government set
aside one-third of the seats in the local council elections for female candidates. In 2002, the
National Reconstruction Bureau enacted electoral reforms that include the tripling of National
Assembly seats reserved for women. According to the Election Commission, 2,621 women
competed for 1 ,867 reserved seats at the district level in 2001 . In some districts, social and
religious conservatives prevented women from becoming candidates; however, in several districts,
female candidates were elected unopposed. Women participated in large numbers in elections,
although some are dissuaded from voting by family, religious, and social customs. In districts
of the NWFP and southern Punjab's tribal areas, conservative religious leaders lobbied
successfully to prevent women from contesting elections or casting ballots. According to
reports, female voters were threatened and their families intimidated from voting and running
for office. In October the MMA coalition of religious parties declared that the families of women
who voted in NWFP would be fined. Prime Minister Jamali has one female minister and one
female special advisor. Provincial governors appointed by President Musharraf also have named
women to serve in provincial cabinets"'^.
Bangladesh
In Bangladesh, women have been more politically stable In the last two decades. Quota
has ensured women's presence in the local government and National Parliament. Among
women politicians, the older group entered politics through social work, while some among
them and the new generation of women have emerged from student politics. Despite many
odds, statistics and analyses reveal a slowly growing trend towards women's political
participation. However, they face an ominous challenge. There has also been a growing influence
of money in Bangladesh politics, particularly in electoral politics and in guarding/promoting
spheres of influence. This acts as a further constraint on women's political participation since
fewer women have access to financial resources. It is very difficult for women to work effectively
The Indian Journal of Political Science
596
in this system unless such practices are eradicated^®.
Bhutan
in Bhutan, women comprise 48 percent of the population and participate freely in the
social and economic life of the country. Forty-three percent of enrollment in school is female,
and women account for 6 percent of civil service employment. On the other hand, female
school enrolment has been growing in response to government policies. Women are increasingly
found among senior officials and private sector entrepreneurs, especially in the tourism industry.
Women in unskilled jobs are generally paid slightly less than men.
Sixty-two percent of the female population works in agriculture. The literacy rate among
rural women is around 1 0%. Seventy percent of the land is owned by women. Fourteen seats
(9.33%) are occupied by women in the National Assembly (as of October 2001 based on iPU
records). Women were allowed to vote in 1953^®.
Nepal
In Nepal, although the Constitution provides protections for women, including equal pay
for equal work, the Government has not taken significant action to implement its provisions,
even in many of its own industries. Women face systematic discrimination, particularly in
rural areas, where religious and cultural tradition, lack of education, and ignorance of the law
remain severe impediments to their exercise of basic rights such as the right to vote or to hold
property in their own names.
According to the 1 991 census, the female literacy rate is 26 percent, compared with 57
percent for men. Human rights groups report that girls attend secondary schools at a rate half
that of boys. There are many NGO's focused on integrating women Into society and the
economy. These NGO's work in the areas of literacy, small business, skills transfer, and
prevention of trafficking in women and girls. There also are a growing number of women's
advocacy groups.
Most political parties have women's groups. Members of Parliament have begun working
for the passage of tougher laws for crimes of sexual assault, but have had little success so far.
1 2 seats (5.9%) out of 205 held by women in the Lower House. 9 seats (1 5%) out of 60
in the Upper House. Kamala Pant is the lone female Minister of State. The 20% seat reservation
In local political bodies has brought more than 39,000 women in local bodies^®.
Sriianka
In Snlanka, although there are no legal impediments to the participation of women in
politics or government, the social mores in some communities limit women's activities outside
Status of Women In Politics
597
home, and the percentage of women in government and politics does not correspond to their
percentage of the population.
!n November 1 994, a woman was elected President for the first time; she was re-elected
in December 1 999 for a second term. Eleven women held seats in the Parliament that completed
its term in August 2000. In addition to the Prime Minister, the Minister for Women's Affairs,
and the Minister of Social Services, a number of women held posts as deputy ministers in the
last parliament. Of the 5,000 candidates for the October 2000 parliamentary elections, 11 6
were women and 7 of them won seats in the October elections. Only one woman (Minister of
Women's Affairs) was appointed to the new cabinet formed after the December 5 elections.
At present there are only 4.8% women in parliament and according to 1 997 statistics,
there were a mere 3.4%, 2.6% and 1.7% women representatives respectively in Municipal
Councils, Urban Councils and Pradeshiya Sabhas.
The quota system can be used as an effective tool to increase women's participation in
politics. In 1 997 Sri Lanka's government proposed a constitutional reform, which contained a
25% reservation for women at the local government level. However, little progress has been
done and the provision was not even stated in the August 2000 constitutional reforms. The
reason given by the government was that the Muslim and Tamil parties felt that they would not
be able to find sufficient women candidates'^ .
Maldives
In Maldives, women traditionally have played a subordinate role in society, although
they now participate in public life in growing numbers and gradually are participating at higher
levels. Women constitute 38 percent of government employees, and about 10 percent of
uniformed NSS personnel. Well-educated women maintain that cultural norms, not the law,
inhibit women's education and career choices. In many instances, education for girls is curtailed
after the seventh grade, largely because parents do not allow girls to leave their home island
for an island having a secondary school. Nonetheless, women enjoy a higher literacy rate (98
percent) than men (96 percent). Due to largely orthodox Islamic training, there is a strong
strain of conservative sentiment-especially among small businessmen and residents of the
outer islands-that opposes an active role for women outside home. However, the Government
continued legal literacy programs to make women aware of their legal rights and workshops
on gender and political awareness in the outer atolls. The Government also has built 1 0 of 16
planned women's centers in the atolls, which are facilities where famiiy health workers can
provide medical services. The centers also provide libraries arid space for meetings and other
activities with a focus on the deveiopment of women.
598
The Indian Journal of Political Science
The Cabinet replaced the National Women's Council with a Gender Equality Council to
serve as an advisory body to the Government to help strengthen the role of women in society
and to help ensure equal participation by women in the country's development. Also during the
year, the Government, with the assistance of the European Union and the U.N. Population
Fund, expanded a program of small loans to women for development projects to additional
islands. Only 3 seats (6.0%) held by women in the Majlis. There is a woman, Rashida Yoosuf,
appointed in the Cabinet as Secretary of Women's Affairs and Social Security^^.
It is known that South Asia has more powerful women politicians than any other set of
countries in the world. Women had been prime ministers, leaders of major parties, heads of
state and regional governments. Chandrika Kumaratunga in Sri Lanka, Sonia Gandhi in India,
Benazir Bhutto in Pakistan, and Khaleda Zia in Bangladesh are examples, as well as powerful
women in India such as Mayawati, Jayalalitha, Uma Bharati, Sushma Swaraj and others. Yet,
overall women’s political participation is dismal. The membership of women in the parliaments
of these countries has ranged between 6-8% during the last few decades.
As noted above, the percentage of women in all the national parliaments of South Asian
countries has been low since independence and has barely risen in the last decades. In the
year 2004, the percentage of women in the national parliaments have been 5.9% for Nepal ,
21 .3% for Pakistan , 4.9% for Sri Lanka , 9.02% for India , 2.0% for Bangladesh, 9.3% for
Bhutan and 6.0% for Maldives.^^
Representation of Women in Politics in South Asia
Country
Year - Women
Year-First elected or
Representation in
Received Voting
appointed in Parliament
Lower House as in
Rights
2004
India
1950
1952
9.02%
Pakistan
1947
1973
21.3%
Nepal
1951
1952
5.9%
Bhutan
1953
1975
9.3%
Sri Lanka
1931
1947
4.9%
Bangladesh
1972
1973
2.0%
Maldives
1932
1979
6.0%
Status of Women in PoSitics
599
The obstacles to women’s equal participation in governance are great and deeply
embedded in South Asian social and cultural patterns. Most of these countries are among the
most patriarchal in the world. This is starkly shown by Amartya Sen’s criteria of “missing
women.” Countries such as India and Pakistan are among those which have a low sex ratio,
i.e the ratio of women to men in the population structure. For India in the 2001. census it was
in fact 93 women to 1 00 men, for Pakistan 82. This is a result of maltreatment, less access to
medical care, less food, and a general arduous and tolling existence^"^.
Another obstacle to women’s political participation is the intensely competitive nature
of politics itself. In the countries of South Asia, it is more than a “public service” profession; it
is a great lucrative source of income and power. Men are obviously reluctant to give up their
control over this profit-making arena. Further, politics is also often characterized by violence,
from “booth-capturing” to raucous scenes in the assemblies. A significant number of elected
representatives in India, from almost all parties, have criminal records. In this kind of atmosphere,
women are at an even greater disadvantage^^.
Thus, even the more “women-friendly” of the south Asian countries, such as Sri Lanka,
still have a low participation rate of women in governance^®.
Women in Politics - India
The Constitution of India has put women on an equal footing with men in all respects.
Although women occupy a predominant position in social life and constitute 50 per cent of
total population, their political participation in decision making is very much limited in proportion
to their size at all levels in a male dominated society^^.
The emergence of Indian women into active political life since Independence is a result
of their partnership in Indian freedom struggle. Gandhiji’s leadership followed by that of Jawaharlal
Nehru, who championed that cause of women and sincerely felt that women must work side
by side with man, were reason enough for the important new role they were to play^®.
The 1 9th century reform movement and the spread of education among the women had
initiated the process of improving the status of women. However, this process was essentially
limited to improving the position of women within the traditional family structure. Prevalent
social attitudes, particularly among the upper and middle classes, continued to regard domestic
life as women’s sole occupation. Nevertheless, there was a minority of women who voluntarily
participated in both social welfare and revolutionary movements. They were active in the cause
of women’s education, welfare of the weaker sections In society and relief to distressed
persons during emergencies like floods, droughts, famines, etc. A still smaller group became
The Indian Journal of Political Science
600
involved in the revolutionary movement, actively participating as couriers, distributing literature,
looking after various institutions and risking police repression, imprisonment, and even capital
punishment. In both these cases, the women received a certain degree of support from their
families in such activities, either overt or covert^® .
The participants in the Indian women’s movement hailed mostly from a small group of
the urban educated families. They belonged to all major religious communities, but the upper-
caste Hindus outnumbered others^®.
The turn of the 1 9th century witnessed the dissemination of education to women. This
was manifested in the emergence of women’s organizations when women entered public life
in larger numbers than before. This period saw the birth of organizations such as The Women’s
Indian Association (this was later merged with the All India Women’s Conference). It also
opened a new chapter in the women’s movement for equality.
Demand for women’s franchise was initiated in 1 91 7 when a deputation of Indian women
led by Sarojini Naidu, presented to the British Parliament a demand for the enfranchisement of
women on the basis of equality with men. The crux of their demand was that when franchise
conditions for India were being drawn up, women be recognized as people^^
As a result, in 1919 under the Montague -Chelmsford Reforms, about 10 lakh women
obtained the voting right. However, women exercised their franchise for the first time only in
1932. Till 1926, no women ever got into any legislature. Muthulakshmi Reddy of Madras, a
dedicated social worker was the first woman to be nominated to the Madras Legislative Council
and she was also elected as the Deputy Chairperson of the Council. Devadasi Bill was introduced
by her which saved the lives of these women from degradation. Kamla Devi Chattopadhyaya,
a pioneer in the women’s movement was the first to contest a seat from the South Kanara
Constituency in 1 926. Radha Bai Subbaraya, Renuka Roy, Annu Swaminathan were the
earliest women who got into the central legislature^^.
It was Mahatma Gandhi’s call to women to join the freedom struggle that a new era
dawned. He recognized the importance of women’s participation in the freedom struggle.
Gandhi appraised the women’s potential for Satyagraha and for the social reconstruction as
higher than that of men. He said, “In the non-violent struggle, women have an advantage over
men, for women are any day superior to men in their religious devotion. Silent and dignified
service is the badge of her sex. When she does a thing in the right spirit, she moves
mountains”^^
This provided a wide-spread inspiration to women of all sections of society for joining
Status of Women in Politics 601
the freedom struggle and came to the forefront. Gandhi encouraged women to participate in ali
aspects and phases of nationalist activity, particularly in the constructive programme and the
non-violent Satyagrahas, for it required not physical strength but moral courage and spiritual
determination. In 1 91 9, he launched an All India Satyagraha against the provocative enactment
of the Rowlatt Act. Though Women did not participate extensively or very visibly in the Rowlatt
Satyagraha, yet Gandhi gained considerable support from them^"^.
Thus, by reinterpreting the traditional roles of women, Gandhi sought to involve them in
national politics. Later, when women wanted to bread the limit set by him and were keen to take
part in the Dandi March, he refused on the ground that they had a greater role to play than
merely breaking salt laws. Gandhi was reluctant to permit women to join the Salt Satyagraha
but prominent women like Kamla Devi Chattopadhyaya and Durgabai Deshmukh objected
vigorously to Gandhi’s initial reluctance. Lilavati Munshi and Sarojini Naidu organized the women
and led tthem in different parts of Bombay to make salP®. The others who either led the struggle
or lent support to it, were Vijayalakshmi Pandit, Krishna Hutheesingh, Lakshmi Menon, Violet
Alva, Sushila Nayyar, Jaishri Raiji, Hansa Mehta, Maniben Patel, Zutshi, Mhatre Sisters, etc.
The mass participation by women was significant in the way that it represented a shift
from their role as supportive auxiliaries to being direct participant in the struggle, even when it
involved defiance of the leadership. Women were a new and different role confronting the
traditional one. The Swadeshi movement, the non-cooperation movement and the Civil
Disobedience movement drew them out from the seclusion of home and made them active
participants in the struggle.
In 1931, a meeting of the representatives of women was held in Bombay under the
presidentship of Sarojini Naidu which drafted a memorandum demanding immediate acceptance
of universal adult franchise and equal political rights without any sex-discrimination. This was
placed before the Round Table Conference which however, was turned down by the government.^
in 1931 , at the Karachi Session of the Indian National Congress, Nehru piloted the
‘Fundamental Rights Resolution’ which accepted the principle of complete equality of men
and women in political life. Women exercised their right to franchise widely in the election of
1 937. In 1 937 elections, 42 women got into the legislatures and 5 were nominated to the upper
houses.^^
in the 1942 ‘Quit India Movement’, when all the top leaders were arrested and the
movement became practically leaderless, women joined hands with others and carried it on
by taking out processions, holding meetings, demonstrations and organizing strikes. Aruna
Asaf Ali, Kaipana Joshi, Preeti Waddadar, Kanaklata Barua, Roopvati Jain, DurgaBai, Sushila
The Indian Journal of Political Science
602
Devi and Usha Mehta were the famous figures of the 1 942 movement. Kasturba Gandhi died in
jail during the Quit India Campaign. In July 1943, in response to the clarion call of Subhash
Chandra Bose, a women’s regiment named The Rani of Jhansi Regiment’ was formed in
Singapore with Laxmi Sehgal as its captain^®.
Women did not lag behind even in the making of the Constitution for free India. The
Constituent Assembly was set up in October 1 946, a body elected by the existing iegisiatures,
had among its members Sarojini Naidu, Durgabai Deshmukh, Renuka Ray and Hansa Mehta
among others to frame the Constitution for free India^®.
Thus, through the independence movement women came out of their suppressed slave
existence and entered the arena of public life. But, it was a tactical necessity of national
liberation struggle. They did not work out any strategy for their own interests and emancipation.
By subordinating their own interests to the national cause, they confirmed to the traditional
ideal of the self-sacrificing women.
After independence, women have made inroads to public life mainly due to the so-called
"male equivalence or kinship link". The assumption here is that women access political life
with the support, backing and contacts of the family, in particular that of the husband. In a
study made in 1998 wherein 15 women were surveyed, 1/3 of the women MPs, for example,
have "family support" in the background. However, other points out that "male equivalence" is
an inadequate conceptual framework. First, because it is the public sphere (e,g. state
institutions, press, and political discourse) that has to be negotiated if the family decision to
put forward a woman in politics is to succeed; it is not a private, but a public matter. Second,
in many cases the husbands do not support the candidature of the wife at Together with
"kinship link" and state initiatives, an important factor impacting on women's access to political
life seems to be social and political movements. These movements have created windows of
opportunity and some women have been able to take advantage of these opportunities to
access political life. For example, the national movement was an important mobilizer of women.
Gandhi's contribution to bringing women into politics is well-documented; the left movement
also mobilized women.
However, the 1993 passage of the 73rd Constitutional Amendment Act reserved 30
percent of seats in elected village councils (Panchayats) for women, which has brought more
than 1 million elected women into the political life at the grassroots level. The passage of the
"Panchayati Raj" was due to the Seventy-third Constitutional Amendment Act of 1 992 which
could have been enacted by ail the States and Union Territories. A large proportion of women
participated in voting throughout the country (with turnout rates slightly lower than those of
Status of Women In Politics 603
men), and numerous women were represented in ail major parties in the national and state
legislatures'*^
Political representation was initially based on the premise that it deals primarily with
individuals, regardless of sex and equal opportunities should be granted of power and influence
in society. It was believed that though very few women were actually joining politics, given
time the overall change in terms of education and employment opportunities would necessarily
percolate into the political sphere too and their representation would increase'*^.
in India, representation of women in the Lok Sabha has not crossed 1 0 per cent. In the
First Lok Sabha there were only 22 women constituting 4.4 percent of the House. It increased
marginally over the years except in the 1 3th Lok Sabha there were 49 women members with
9.02 per cent. This percentage, however, looks dismal in comparison with the world average of
15.7 per cent.
The major problem for the women coming fonward to contest and function successfully
in leadership positions is that of the patriarchal value. The main plank of this is that women are
subordinate to men, men should order and women should obey, men are strong, women are
weak and men only are suitable for roles in public life. The more patient and the more tender
should confine to and maintain the comforts and conveniences of home for the husband,
children and others of the family. In this given situation, women hardly get free time to think of
politics, leave away effective participation in it'*^.
References :
1 . Premlata Pujari and Vijay Kumari Kaushik, Women Power in India, New Delhi: Kanishka
Publishers, 1994, p.1 3.
2. United Nations Press Release, Department of Public Information, New York: News and
Media Division, 6 March, 2006.
3. Nadezhda Shvedova, Women in Parliament: Beyond Numbers, Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, 1 995, p.32
4. Barbara J.Ne!son(ed.), Women and Politics Worldwide, London: Yale University Press,
1994, p.3
5. Data compiled by the Division for the Advancement of Women, United Nations, based
on January 2004 information from the Worldwide Government Directory 1 996, Bethesda,
Maryland, U.S.A.
The Indian Journal of Political Science 604
6. http://www.wedo.org, accessed on 24.3.2005
7. United Nations Press Release, op.cit.,
8. Nadezhda Shvedova, op.cit.,
9. Janet C. Beilstein. 1996. "Women in Decision-Making: Progress towards a Critical
Mass". Paper for SADC regional Parliamentary Seminar in cooperation with UNDP.
Cape Town, South Africa. September, pp. 1 -4.
10. Ibid.,
1 1 . Nadezhda Shvedova, op.cit. , p .40
1 2. Reports and Conclusions of the Inter-Parliamentary Symposium on the Participation of
Women in the Poiitical and Parliamentary Decision-Making Process, Series "Reports
and Documents", No. 16, Geneva. 1989.
13. Ibid.,
14. Transparency International.. "The Fight Against Corruption: is the Tide NowTurning?",
Transparency Internationa! Report, Berlin: Tl, April 1997.
1 5. www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/public/womeningov.htm accessed on 21 .4.2005)
16. Muddassir Rizvi, “Women win Record Seats, But Not Activists’ Hearts", Inter Press
Service, Pakistan, 2001 .
17. ibid.,
18. http://www.onrmewomeninpolitics.org accessed on 24.5.2005
19. Ibid.
20. Ibid.,
21. Ibid.,
22. Ibid.,
23. http://www.ipu.org accessed on 12.7.2006
24. Jean Dreze and Amartya Sen, India: Economic Development and Social Opportunity,
New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1995, pp.141 -144.
25. Batliwala, Srilatha, “Transforming Political Culture: Mahila Samakhya Experience.”
Status of Women in Politics
605
Economic and Political Weekly, May 25, 1996.
26. http:/www.capwip.org/readingroom/srilanka.pdf, downloaded February 1 9, 2005
27. The Hindu, ‘Women take Strides, men look on benignly’, 9 March, 2004, p. 1 6.
28. Subasini Mahapatra, Women and Politics, New Delhi: Rajat Publications, 2001 , p.261 .
29. Premiata Pujari, Women Power in India, Delhi: Kanishka Publishers, 1 994, pp.1 4 - 1 5.
30. J.K.Chopra, Women in the Indian Parliament, New Delhi: Mittal Publications, 1993,
p.3.
31 . The deputation was composed of Sarojini Naidu as the leader, 1 4 women leaders drawn
from all over the country and Margaret Cousins who initiated the move, acting as
Secretary. Cousins, Irish by birth, had been one of the founders of the Irish Women’s
Suffrage Movement and later as an active suffragist in England, had courted imprisonment.
Since settling in India she had become an ardent supporter of the Indian women’s
rights. Kamaladevi Chattopadhayay, Indian Women’s Battle for Freedom, New Delhi:
Abhinav Publications, 1 983, p.94.
32. Kameswarmma Kuppusamy, “Women and Political Awakening’’, Roshni, July-Sept.,
1987, p.8
33. Bhawana Jharta, Women and Politics in India, New Delhi: Deep & Deep Publications,
1998,p.58
34. Poonam Saxena, :Women’s participation in the National Movement in the United
Provinces, 1 937-47”, Manushi, No.46, 1 988, pp.2-3.
35. Mercy Kappen, “The Gandhian Contribution to Women’s Liberation”, Gandhi and Social
Action Today, New Delhi: Sterling Publishers, 1 990, p.51 .
36. Kameswarmma Kuppusamy, op.cit, p.8.
37. ibid.,
38. Tara Ali Baig, India’s Women Power, New Delhi: S.Chand &Co., 1976, p.218.
39. !bid.,p.220.
40. onlinewomeninpolitics.org accessed on 23.5.2005
The fndian Journal of Political Science
606
42. Yogendra Narain, ‘Political Empowerment of Women’, Indian Journal of Public
Administration, Vol.LI, No.1 , Jan - Mar, 2005, p.38.
43. P.Eashvaraiah, Reservation for Women in Parliament and Legislatures’, Social Watch,
Vol.53, No.2, April. 2002, p.132.
The Indian Journal of Political Science
Vol. LXVllI, No. 3, July-Sept, 2007
SECULARISM RE-EXAMINED
NaiduAshok
Secularism, the much talked about thing in our country, appears to be the last thing on
politicians mind in India. We have continued to witness incidents of communalism and
fragmentation on that basis even after more than half-century into Independent India. It
is more a campaign ideology than a practising one. India as a state is secular to much
extent, but India as a society is still running the contagious fever of communalism. The
paper is an effort towards re-examination of the status of secularism and its possibility
in the country.
Secularism has been the topic of discussion and controversy in this society during the
last three decades or so, through a great ideological and political crisis, which generated so
much heat and dust that it was impossible to see simple things clearly. India is poised to be
secular but the grounds for secularism have been left unclear. Even the notorious communalists
present themselves to be more secular than those who are secularist in the true spirit'' . Post-
Godhra incident in 2002 communal riots accompanied by events of arson, loot, and murder in
urban as well as rural Gujarat and rural areas of Haryana and Maharastra have tarnished the
image of Indian secularism and the reputation of Hinduism as a tolerant faith. The social climate
is thoroughly vitiated and the atmosphere is surcharged with suspicion and hatred reminding of
the pre-partition days. The nation is at the edge of a precipice. To prevent the collage, the nation
must withdraw its steps from the path it has been led to under the influence of misguided
elements. What needed are a deep national introspection and a sense of balance and direction.
It is the responsibility of those who are at the helm of affairs in government and in political life and
social life to provide these. But listening and watching to them on T.V. and elsewhere, it seems
they are indulging in divisive politics and mutual recrimination oblivious of the national interest
and the consequence of what they are saying and doing.
In May 2002, conference at Bangalore the RSS passed a resolution that the security of
the minority community depends on the goodwill of the majority. The resolution was seen as an
open threat to the minority, though the spokesman of the RSS tried to explain that it was not
meant to be so. Security is the fundamental right of every citizen guaranteed by the Constitution,
it is the responsibility of the state to preserve and protect this right, which does not depend on
any body’s goodwill. The RSS and organisations of the parivar have been constantly criticizing
the Congress rulers for their appeasement of the minority, especially Muslims. They are saying
that though Hindus are in majority they are being discriminated. They want the creation of Hindu
Rashtraa^.
in the present paper researcher attempts to study whether secularism is possible in India
or it is re-examined in the minds of politicians and academicians, it also endeavans to examine
whether secularism is the only way of developments in a plural society.
The public debate on secularism Is acquiring some curious features. It is obvious that
many persons have misgivings about it, but with the exception of a few mavericks, they are
The Indian Journal of Political Science
608
generally not prepared to attack it openly. While this is true by and large of the intelligentsia, it
is invariably the case with politicians. It would be unthinkable for any political leader, whether of
the left or the right, to speak openly against secularism, just as it would be unthinkable for him
to speak openly against equality^.
The most common way to throw doubt on secularism is for a person to say that he is not
against secularism as such, what he is against is Pseudo -■ Secularism. He will then go on to
say that there are far too many Pseudo - Secularist busybodies around and that they are the
ones who are responsible for the discord between communities and ultimately, for communal
violence. A professed adherents of Hindutva say that they are for secularism, that Hindutva
itself is a form of secularism, indeed its most exalted form, only they prefer to call it .religious
pluralism rather than secularism, which is of western provenance. Religious pluralism, in their
view, is not only a part of the Indian tradition, it is tolerant and undogmatic unlike secularism
which has a whiff of dogmatic atheism about it and besides, lacks moral depth"^.
GENESIS OF SECULARISM :
Secularism is the belief that politics, morals, education, art and literature, etc., are out to
be freed from religion. The origin of this concept may be traced from the Renaissance, a
movement that influenced Europe from the fourteenth to the sixteenth century. This movement
aimed at the revival of the Greek Spirit of reason and sought to liberate the society from the
dominance of religion®.
But the concept of secularism gathered real strength from the enlightenment, which had
become a powerful force in Europe. From the 17th century onwards, discoveries in science
challenged deeply held beliefs and faiths, which were an integral part of the broad canvas of
-religion. The application of these technologies and the rise of industrial societies necessitated
the change in the social equilibrium that was then prevalent, that laid stress on reason and
rationality. This is what helped the growth of secularism through the promotion of the scientific
temper and rejection of the superstitions and faith in religion®.
Broadly speaking, two divergent concepts of secularism developed in western political
thought. According to the first, which may be called liberal concept of secularism, the state
should neither be religious not anti-religious. It should not only have no religion but also be
neutral towards it. There should be complete separation of religion and polities. Religion should
be regarded as a private matter of an individual and there should be no place for it in public
affairs. The second concept, which may be labelled as the Marxian concept, “regards secularism
as an anti-thesis of religion. The Marists believe that the inducement of religion was developed
by the capitalist class to establish its hegemony and for countering the class struggle by using
religion as opium”^.
Emergence of secularism : The Indian Context Actually and sociologically speaking,
secularism in India is a way of life. In a country where there are at least 1 2 religions, over 300
Secularism Reexamined
609
castes, nearly 4000, sub castes, over 20 languages, over 300 dialects, mixed traditions: the
only way to reduce internal tension is to inculcate tolerance and co-existence®. The idea of
secularism evolved not out of historical and religious debate but out of political exigency.
In India, secularism was emerging as the most dominant principle of nation building. The
leaders of the Indian National Congress - Mahatma Gandhi, Moulana Abul Kalam Azad, Pandit
Nehru and others - were deeply committed to the ideal of secularism^. The Constituent Assembly
debates were extensive on the subject and only after considerable brainstorming secular
principles were enshrined in our Constitution. We are using the term secularism here to mean
‘Dharma Nirpekshta’ (i.e., religious authorities should have no say in matters of the state).
There is another interpretation also which is being imputed to secularism ‘Sarva Dharma
Samabhava’ (equal respect for alt religions’'®).
Secularism has been one of the essential elements in the basic structure of our constitution
which lays down that ; (1 ) The State has no religion, (2) all citizens however have fundamental
right to follow and propagate their own religion, and (3) it is the duty of the state to protect life,
liberty and property of all citizens, provide security to them and enable them to exercise their
fundamental rights. The state will not discriminate between the citizens on the grounds of
religion and language^ \
A Clear of Contradiction in Constitution : While our constitution has been based on,
secularism or Dharma Nirapekshita. Our society is stepped in religion. Observance of religious
festivals and rituals is part of our day-today life. Religious feelings govern our mode of thinking.
Thus, there is a clear contradiction between the basic tenets of the Constitution and the characters
of our society. These get reflected in our politics and public administration, which often work in
a manner contrary to what is envisaged in the Constitution.
The caste and communal characterizes our politics inevitably in the conduct of public
administration. While the Constitution envisages secularism in the sense of ‘Dharma Nirapekshita’
(religious authorities should have no say in matters of the state), our politicians have conveniently
interpreted it as ‘Sarva Dharma’ Samabhav’ (equal respect of for all religions). This has given free
license to our Politicians holding high positions to freely participate in all religious functions with
the official paraphernalia in attendance. 1970 onwards Central and different State Governments
have started the practice of giving ‘Iftar’ parties to our Muslim brethren during ‘Ramzan’. Now
political leaders vie with each other to throw such lavish parties at national and state capitals
and the practice continued even In the regime of a BJP Prime Minister. Wide publicity is given
in the media as to who attended these parties and what was served, it is forgotten that such
politicization of ‘iftar’ is a sacrilege to sacred religious practice much to the disgust of truly
religious people. Moreover it creates a sense of discrimination. If iftar parties are given why not
Diwali parties and Christmas parties"'^? The representation of the people act provides that
appeals made on the grounds of religion to gather votes would be deemed to be a corrupt
practice and would disqualify a candidate but this happen as a rule In all our elections. All
The Indian Journal of Political Science
610
political parities use religion to gather votes. This starts from the selection of the candidates
taking in to account the communal character of the constituency. Vote banks are systematically
built on the basis of caste and religion and the very leaders who take advantage of these vote
banks do so in the name of secularism. This has been the hypocrisy of our secular democracy^ ^
There are two consequences of this mixing up of religion, politics and public administration.
First, it has given prominence in public life to religious leaders like ‘Sants’ and ‘Mahants’,
‘Imams’ and ‘Priests’. They have started playing an active role in government's decision-
making. The interference of religious leaders in administrative matters can prove dangerous to
our secular democracy. Secondly, religious practices and festivals have started making serious
inroads into the safety and convenience of our public life. In Maharashtra only, “Ganapati'
festival was public. Now even a ‘Navaratri’ festival has become a public observance. Pandals
are erected on roads obstructing traffic. Loud music is played on public system disturbing
peace. Namaz gathering spills over the roads and in retaliation ‘Maha Aratries” are also similarly
performed'*'^.
PSEUDO-SECULARS v/s REAL SECULARS : After the BJP took up the Ramjanma
Bhoomi issue in mid-eighties, secularism as an ideology came under sever attack. First is the
charge that the state does not practice ‘true’ secularism. This has been the charge of the
‘Sangh parivar’ that there is an undue favouritism or appeasement shown towards the Muslim
community by the state giving them privileges which were not enjoyed by the ‘Hindu community’.
It led to the belief that the Muslims were a ‘pampered’ minority. Post-Shah Bano case, and the
states as well as the secular parties ambivalence towards a uniform civil code, this charge has
also found sympathy among others who see this ambivalence as going against the principles of
justice and legality, and also as evidence of political opportunism on the part of the Secular
Parties. This belief has found further substance in allegation of ‘protection’ given by these
parties to obscurantist Muslim clerics as well as criminals, in turn, BJP and its groups also
came out with a concept of positive secularism of true secularism, meaning that the minority
should not enjoy any special protection and all such provisions in the Constitution should be
done away with. The BJP in its manifesto for the 1 996 elections had proposed that Article 30 of
the Constitution {giving the right to the minorities to establish their own cultural and educational
Institutions) be removed. The BJP usually puts it as ‘justice for all appeasement of none’’'^.
Secondly, 'the problem of identities’ in India, which is to say that Indians tend to see
themselves first as Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs or Christians, and then see themselves as Indians.
This being the case the Indian identity is seen as an amalgam of several separate Identities, the
talk of a syncretic culture is, therefore, seen as an intellectual camouflage given to rnore
co-existence, often uncomfortable among different communities and the argument stemming
from this Is that since Hindus form an overwhelming majority in the country it is desirable for the
sake of building an Indian National Identity that the latter reflects a Hindu Identity^®.
Secularism Reexamined
611
The third critique flows from the second - the charge of Muslim sectarianism, it is said
that Muslims have failed to see themselves as Indians first and two historical truths are usually
cited as evidence^^ Firstly, the treatment by Muslim rulers of their co-religionists as preferred
category and equally, the ill treatment of Hindus by them as apparent in the willful destruction of
Hindu temples during their rule as well as application of discriminatory laws against them.
Secondly, Jinnah’s two-nation theory, which contributed to the creation of the separate state for
Muslims, is viewed as proof of their super-national loyalties. This so, it is argued that who else
but Hindus have a stake in the Indian nation-state. On deeper thinking it would appear that the
demand for India as Hindu state arises out of a sense of insecurity which some sections of
Hindu society feel even though Hindu are In the majority in this country"'®.
Fourthly, to blame the BJP of cynically exploiting communal sentiments for electoral
gains is half-truth, because it has been done by every political party. Cynical building up of Sant
Bhindranwala to marginalize the Akalis or Akalidal, for instance, proved catastrophic not only for
the Congress party but also for the entire country.^® Similarly, the wooing of Shahi Imam by the
Janata Dal led National Front resulted into fall of its government at the center as the aftereffect
of secularism^®. If mullahas and sadhus, and mahants come to wield political clout, as it
happens today, communal forces are bound to get string themed. It is amusing to note that we
never hear them speaking against old traditions such as ‘pardah’ or the ‘caste-system’, polygamy
or extravagnt feasting etc., but they talk of religious identity. If the BJP is blamed to have been
practicing majority communalism, the Congress and non-Congress parties should equally be
held responsible for pampering minority communalism in our polity for their political gains,
forgetting the fact that the indefinite variety of the land can only be preserved and enriched
through a policy or substantive decentralisation and that a genuine federal, set-up is the only
solution of our problems. Nationalism cannot flourish in a country where millions of people are
condemned to sub-human existence, whereas some fellow live in five-star luxury. Nationalism
has to assume a characterof an equalitarian dimension^"'. •
During the election campaign, in 1 998, 1999 & 2004 elections, it had been realized that
the Indian society had accepted secularism as a way of life. Therefore, it invented a new debate.
The Congress, they said was ‘Pseudo-Secular and they were the real secular. Thus even while
attacking the notion of secularism, the BJP created a niche for itself in the controversy. According
to its former president Lai Krishna Advani, Mohammad Ali Jinnah was the epitome of secularism^^.
Now Jinnah was not a practicing Muslim. He enjoyed his drink. He smoked and loved good
things of life. He did not know Urdu and was opposed to Khilafat movement. All this is indeed
true, but it is also true that he Invoked the Idea of Islam as a basis for a political state. The
country was partioned on that note^®.
CONCLUDING OBSERVATIONS : The real problem is that secularism is not an
indigenous concept or philosophy. Our rulers, before the advent of the British, ruled according to
the ‘Dharmashashtra’ or Shariat and gave freedom to other religious groups to follow their respective
The Indian Journal of Political Science
612
religions and juaged them according to their own religions beliefs and laws. The situation
changed only after the British came and introduced modern secular laws^"*.
In India, there never was any struggle between religious bodies and the state as it was in
Europe between the church and the state. Infact, there was never any organized clergy either I
among the Muslims or the Hindus, There was, thus, no question of any struggle for powers |
between the religions and the state as it happened in Europe. The philosophy of secularism f
came into existence only as a result of such a struggle. The church sought to control the state. |
The princes in Europe were subordinated to the church and desired to break free. When Martin i
Luther revolted against the authority of the church the princes joined him and after a great deal j
of struggle they could assert their independent authority. Thus came Into existence the concept j
of a secular state as opposed to a church-dominated state. The process of continuous
secularization as a result of industrialization helped strengthen the secular state philosophy^^.
In India, secularism in politics was adopted voluntarily by the Indian National Congress to
cope with the multi-religious situation. When the Congress was formed a section of the Muslims
and others thought that it was a Hindu organization and hence remained indifferent to it. The
Congress then tried to convince them that it was not against any religion and that it respected all
religions. In order to reassure the minorities it elected the first three presidents from among
them : Badruddin Tyabji (Muslim), Dadabhai Naoroji (Parsi) and W.C.Bonnerjee (Christian).
Thus, right from the beginning the emphasis of the Congress secularism was on the multi-
religiousness of the Indian society and Its being sensitive to this situation^®.
Shortly after independence, India adopted a new constitution providing a charter for a
secular state and a secular concept of citizenship. This was dictated above all by the compulsions
of history and of demography. A constitution that was the end-product of a nationalist movement
that had resolutely opposed the two-nation theory could hardly prescribe a Hindu state or any
kind of religious state. For Nehru and his generation having a secular state was not just a matter
of convenience, it was also matter of honour^^.
A secular legal and constitutional order is dictated also by the compulsions of demography.
India is a land of many religions and within each religion of many sects and denominations.
There are more Muslims in India than in any country in the world. Indonesia and India’s Muslim
population is larger than the total population of Britain, France or Germany. There are also
populous minorities of Christians and Sikhs. It will be impossible to govern such a country
without secular public institutions that treat citizens without fear or favour, irrespective of their
religion.
In additions to the compulsions of fairness, secularization is driven also by the requirements
of development and modernization. If we wish to have a modern educational system and a
modern economic system, we must build secular institutions, secular schools, colleges and
Universities, secular offices and factories and secular print and electronic media. M.N. Srinivasa
Secularism Reexamined
613
had famously defined secularization as follows ; ‘The term secularization implies that what was
previously regarded as religious is ceasing to be such, and it also implies a process of
differentiation which results in the various aspects of society, economic, political, legal and
moral, becoming increasingly discrete in relation to each othei^®" It can not be too strongly
emphasized that differentiation does not mean disconnection.
The differentiation of society is a long term evolutionary tendency, and India can attempt
to reverse that tendency only as its own peril. Secularization does not mean that religious
institutions will cease to exist. It only means that they will cease to encompass or regulate all
the other institutions of society. These other institutions will then act relatively autonomously in
their respective specialized domains, such as those of education, science, finance, administration
communication and so on.
India has in the past 56 years of its secular republic, gone through a roller-coaster ride of
religious and casteist strife. Till now it has survived as a secular nation state and as an integrated-
multi-cultural country.
Atleast now we have to realize that religious tolerance has been the basic tenet of India’s
ancient civilization and it is also the hallmark of the modern age of globalization. There should
be sense of mutual trust and cooperation among all the sections of society. We should not
waste our time in religious discords but rather move ahead with the use of science, and technology
to make our lives better, richer and fuller. We should follow the foot steps of European nations,
which have forgotten their enmities and wars over centuries and have come together as a single
economic and political entity.
References :
1) Beteille, A (1 994);‘Secularism and Intellectuals’. Economic and Political Weekly, 30 (10)
5 March pp.559-66
2) The Hindu, 20 May, 2002
3) Bhargava, Rajeev,(ed) 1 998: Secularism and its critics, OUP New Delhi p.68.
4) Ravindra Kumar, ‘Contemporary Hinduism’ The Times of India: 24 April, 1 991 .
5) Groethuysen, B: (1959) Secularism in Edwin R.A. Seiigman(ed) Social Sciences,
Macmillan Company, New Delhi, PP.63T634.
6) Ibid., 635.
7) Ranbir Singh, (2004); ‘Nehru and Secularism’ in Baltej Singh Man (ed) National integration
and communal Harmony: Publication Bureau, Punjab University, Patiala, pp 20,21 .
8) Das Gupta; S : Regaining the faith, India Today, 8th April, 2002. p.32
614
The Indian Journal of Political Science
9) Sarkar, Sumit, (1 983): Modern India, 1 895-1 947, Macmiian Madras, pp.88-94.
10) Ram. PIR (1 997), Religion, Secularsim and State, One India One, People, November, pp
6-7.
11) Jagdish Swarup, (1 984): Constitution of India. Vol.l, pp. 55-97.
12) Dubhashi. P.R. ‘Meaning of Secularism’ The Hindu 1 1 June, 2002.
13) Ibid.,
14) Ibid.,
15) Ghosh, Partha, (1 999): BJP and the Evolution of Hindu Nationalism: From Periphery to
Center, Manohar, New Delhi pp.1 08-1 1 3.
16) Sarkar, Summit (1 993), The Fascism of Sangh Parivar’, Economic and Political Weekly,
28{5),pp.163-72.
17) Hasan, M. (1988): ‘Indian Muslims since Independence: in Search of Integration and
Indentify’ ; Third world Quarterly 1 0, 2nd April.
18) Ibid.,
19) Ghosh, P,S.{1 997) ‘Hindu Nationalism, the Politics of Nation. Building and Implications
for the Legitimacy of the State in S.K. Mitra and D.Rothermund (eds). Legitimacy and
conflicts in South Asia, Manohar, New Delhi pp 68-76.
20) Ibid.,
21) Bllgrami, Akeel (1994): Two concepts of Secularism; Economic and Political weekly,
29^28) 9 July, pp.1 749-761.
22) The Hindu 1 8 November 2005
23) Rajurkar, N.G.(1 991): The Spirit of Indian Freedom Movement. Academy of Gandhian
Studies. Hyderabad. P.145.
24) Achin Vanaik (1 997); Communalism Contested: Religion, Modernity and secularization,
Vistaar Publications, New Delhi pp 66-78.
25) Ibid.,
26) Chaudhary. D.S.(ed) (2002): Nehru and National Building, Aalekh Publishers, Jaipur pp
47-58.
27) Smith.D.E.(1 958): Nehru and Democracy, Orient-Longman Calcutta. P.1 55.
28) Srinivas, M.N. (1 972): Social Change in Modem India, Allied Publishers, New Delhi p.1 1 9.
The Indian Journal of Political Science
Vol. LXVill, No. 3, July-Sept., 2007
THE WEST ASIAN OIL AND THE GREAT POWERS
Shabana Soltari
Oil is not only the most important item of the world commerce, it is a strategic
commodity. The economic and military machines of the developed countries run
on oil which, in most cases, is imported from the Gulf. In the past decades there
M/as an intense struggle between the great powers of the world to grab the oil
concessions of the West Asian region, the Palestinian question is the fundamental
cause of the oil being used as a political instrument. Today it's America, the
super power of the world, which is revolving and revolving around West Asia; it-'*'
already destructed the whole country like Iraq, killed millions of innocent people,
just to have a hold on Iraq’s oil only. But it never showed oil as a reason behind
the attack on Iraq. Now America is making strategy to attack Iran, the second
largest poo! of untapped petroleum in the world, here too President Bush is not
mentioning oil as a reason for war with Iran.
in the global context, oil and its products account for more than half the
physical volume of the world trade. Oil is not only the most important item of the world
commerce, it is also a strategic commodity. The economic and military machines of
the developed countries run on oil which, in most cases, is imported from the Gulf.
Until recently, the Western Europe was the principle consumer of the Gulf oil, but the
growing gap between the world supply and demand in the early 1970s, brought in the
United States, Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union as new customers. The ever
increasing and insatiable demand for petroleum products based upon the compelling
needs of this highly industrialised and mechanised age made the West Asia economically
a more strategic area than it has ever been in the past, the great wealth of oil
coupled with its importance to the rest of the world has had profound effect upon the
people and the states of the West Asia early in the twentieth century, the prospects
of finding oil in the Ottoman Empire began to interest the great oil companies of
Europe and the United States and the governments of the great powers. Foreign
concession hunters sought to secure control of Turkish petroleum deposits which
became an added source of international rivalry.
The rise of oil to the central position in the world’s energy picture was relatively
a new phenomenon. At the. beginning of the twentieth century, coat occupied the
dominant position; at the onset of the First World War, as much as 75 percent of the
world’s energy consumption came from coal. Coal’s preferred positio.n deteriorated
rapidly during the next 40 years, however, as more and more oil was found in
exploitable locations. Oil gradually surpassed coal as the world’s dominant energy
source. The amazing impact of oil upon the West Asian region can not be fully
understood without some knowledge of the international struggle of the oil companies
The Indian Journal of Political Science
616
to obtain control of oil deposits, and of the history of the exploration and development
of petroleum in West Asia.
The knowledge of the existence of petroleum in West Asia goes back to ancient
times: In 1900, General Kitabji Khan, Persia’s Commissioner Genera! asked Sir Henry
Drummond, former British Minister in Teheran, at a Paris exposition to find someone in
London who would be willing to invest in the exploitation of oil. Sometime later General
Kitabji was summoned to London, where he proposed his plan for exploitation of
minerals of Persia to William Knox D’Arcy. After D’Arcy had had the possibilities of the
Persian fields investigated by a geologist, H.T. Burns, he sent to Teheran his
representatives Alfred M. Marriot and Mr. Cotte with General Kitabji to obtain a
concession in his name."' After passing some difficulties because of Russian influence
the concession was signed in D’Arcy’s name on May 28, 1901, Before the oil fields
began to produce in sufficient quantities, D’Arcy’s original investment was almost
exhausted and he called for the financial assistance. The British Admiralty became
interested, apparently fearing that the concession might fall in the hands of the
American or the Dutch oil trusts. It asked D’Arcy to defer negotiations with foreigners
until British interests could be found to invest in his undertaking. The Admiralty advised
Lord Strathcona of Burmah oil company to cooperate with D’Arcy. And in May 1905
the Concessions Syndicate Ltd. was formed, with D’Arcy as director. It took over
assets of the First exploitation company and provided financial resources for continuing
resources.^ The additional resources were soon exhausted, but in the middle of the
1908 oil in commercial quantities was discovered at Masjid-i-Suleiman and on April 4,
1909 the Anglo-Persian oil company was formed with an initial capital of £2000,000.^
During the early years of concession two important events took place which
deeply effected the future history of Persia as well as the development of oil, one, on
August 5,1906, Shah Mozaffar-ed-Din issued a proclamation granting constitutional
government" (for Persia), and second, in August 1907, an agreement between England
and Russia was signed dividing Persia into three zones: the Northern-under Russian
influence, and reserved for Russian nationals to seek concessions: the Southern-under
British influence, and reserved for British nationals; and the Central zone-as a neutral
zone for the two great rival powers. This agreement neither admitted Persia to
partnership nor even to consultation. The result was the weakening of the controi of
the Teheran government over the territory under the Influence of Russia and Britain.^
After this concession all the super powers were in queue to pursue the oil rich
countries for concessions. The Americans on their part showed no great desire to
search for oil until the end of the First World War, but when they saw how much
The West Asian Oil and the Great Powers 617
American oil had been consumed during the war, from then a continuous struggle had
been waged between the U.S. and the Great Britain for the exploitation of oil
resources and in seeking oil concessions. Now the American oil interests became
active in the region. The American group represented by Teagle continued to negotiate
with the Turkish Petroleum Company. And till the year 1928, the shareholders of the
Turkish Petroleum Company were: Anglo Persian Oil Company, Royal Dutch Shell
Company, Campaigne Francaise des Petroles, the American Group and S.C. Gulbenkian.
On July 31, 1928, all the participants of the Turkish Petroleum Company signed a
group agreement which limited the activities of each participant in a specified area,
which was marked out on a map attached to the agreement by red line, hence it was
called the ‘Red Line Agreement’® and the name of the Turkish Petroleum Company
was changed to ‘Iraq Petroleum Company (IPC)’.^
Saudi Arabia was a British protectorate and no oil concession would be given
without the approval of the British government. But the relationship between Ibn Saud
and Britain was no longer be that of a protector and protected, and Britain recognised
Ibn Saud as an independent ruler. The financial situation of Saudi Arabia was in
doldrums. Ibn Saud was finding ways and means to make the country’s financial
situation a little better, the concession seekers were in queue to get concessions for
the region but because of the Red Line Agreement it became a little difficult to adjust.
Finally, the Standard Oil Company of California (SOCAL) obtained a concession for
Saudi Arabia on May 29, 1933.® To carry on its operations in Saudi Arabia, this
company created the California Arabian Oil Company which became the Arabian
American Oil Company (ARAMCO) in 1934, with the Texas Oil Company having a fifty
percent share.® Ibn Saud granted the concessions to American company because of
the pressure exerted on him by the governments of other foreign countries and America
was the only country which was making his choice of money.
in order to preserve the dwindling resources of oil, the availability of West Asian
oil must become the cardinal aspect of American oil policy and American foreign
policy; but it was sure that America wanted the oil just for her profits to secure a
dominant position over Britain and France, while for her own consumption America was
having enough oil, for the British and French the situation was quite different. They did
not have any alternative resources other than West Asia. Their economies did not
permit them to depend upon United States for oil. For solving this problem the British
approached Northern Iran which was under Russian dominance, Russia prevented the
establishment of other foreign companies in her area of influence, while the Iranians
tried very hard to induce American companies to exploit their Northern fields, however.
The Indian Journal of Political Science 618
neither Soviet Russia nor Great Britain was willing to permit the Americans enter into
Northern iran. On the other hand, the relations between the Iranian government and the
Anglo-lranian Oil Company which were tolerably good began to deteriorate because the
Iranians had started to realise that Great Britain was making enormous profits out of
the great potentialities of their oil resources which they could use for the welfare of
their own country. Since the outbreak of the Second World War the relations became
more intense on the issue of withdrawal of Allied troops from Iranian territory; on the
other hand, after the war the oil prices dropped. The country’s basic needs were not
fulfilled, together with difficulties and power politics of super powers set the stage for
the nationalisation of Anglo-lranian Oil Company in 1951 (in March 1951 the Company’s
name changed to National Iranian Oil Company). This gathering storm in iran prompted
ARAMCO to conclude an agreement with Saudi Arabia inaugurating the principle of
equal profit sharing. The Americans were primarily concerned with the profit sharing and
with keeping the Soviet Union far from entering the area.
The Anglo-French-lsraeli attack on Egypt in 1956, greatly affected the pace of
the political arena of the Arab region. In many ways the stakes had become more
narrowly regional, and the situation was growing more intricate because of the
tendency of the Arab - Israeli conflict. It set into motion a tide of Arab nationalist
sentiments across the Arab world.
As the IRC was composed of four different groups, the prices charged from the
partners were very low, but the profits which went to the partners from IPC were veiy
high; this attitude of the company was not accepted by the Iraqi people. The relations
between the government and IPC started to deteriorate, Iraqi people wanted to make
their country prosperous, wanted to use their money for themselves. This sentiment led
the Iraqis towards the revolution of 1958. The Iraq government demanded the share of
Iraq in the profits of the company and higher royalties. To them, the foreign companies
were exploiters of Iraqi resources, thieving imperialists who had managed to obtain
extraordinary concessions and privileges. Through this emotional sentiment the Iraqi
people threatened the company for the nationalisation of IPC. Same was the case with
Saudi Arabia, the government was fed up with the oppression of the company, but
Saudi Arabia was not ready for nationalisation because of the task of technical know
how, the task of the capital necessary to maintain the operation and development of
the industry and to the most, the task of international market, to all this, Ahmad Zaki
Yamani proposed a 20 percent government participation.
Since 1959, three collective instrumentalities were set up in the West Asia for
overall purpose of uniting against the oil companies:
The West Aslan Oil and the Great Powers
619
a) the Arab Petroleum Congress,
b) the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC),
c) the Organisation of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC).
On February 13,1959, the British Petroleum Company of Iran announced a cut
of 18 cents per barrel on its West Asian oil, the other companies operating in the
region soon followed it. This price reduction amounted a decrease in total income.
After the June 1967 Arab-lsrael war and the subsequent closure of Suez Canal
and a general increase in world demand for oil, the basic relationship pattern between
the governments and the companies changed, as a result the role of OPEC changed,
meanwhile the devaluation of dollar became an acute issue and subject of negotiations
between the governments and the companies. An extraordinary conference of OPEC
members was convened in Beirut in September 1971, it adopted two resolutions, one
on government participation and the other on dollar parity in oil revenues. Hectic
negotiations began between the governments and the companies, the matter of dollar
devaluation was settled but the question of participation was not easily resolved.
Ahmad Zaki Yamani, who negotiated participation for the Persian Gulf countries,
warned the companies that the alternative to the participation was the nationalisation,
for which the Arab public was ready.
The Organisation of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC) was the
youngest of the limited efforts instrumentalities, it was organised in January 1968, in
the face of the consequences for West Asian oil of the Arab-lsrael war in 1967. Its
conveners, Saudi Arabia and Libya were the greatest victims of the stoppage of oil
production during the war and they attempted to remove oil from political interference
in future. Its membership at first restricted to Arab countries having oil as the principle
and basic source of national income, this condition was waived in 1971. GAPEC’s
main concern was to take maximum benefits from its member countries’ national
resources. In 1970s, the host countries' policies tended to bifurcate the radical
revolutionary states favoured nationalisation, trying to achieve maximum control of the
oil industry through negotiated agreements with the companies.’*^
The out break of Arab-lsraeli war in 1973, catalysed the situation, the action
taken by the Arab oil producing states in response to the Arab-lsrael war of October
1973, was very strong. The Arab states decided the general production cut-back and
selective embargoes on exports to certain states. The Arab boycott implemented the
concept of using oil as a weapon, Saudi Arabia warned the United States that an
The Indian Journal of Political Science
620
unfriendly American policy might adversely affect the availability of Arab oil, on the
other hand OPEC decided to increase the prices of crude oil several fold. In the
following weeks and months after the war, the Arab oil ministers held a series of
meetings at which the boycott policy was refined, the first meeting held in Kuwait from
17-19 October 1973. In this meeting a binding decision was made to cut monthly
production by a minimum of 5 percent from September level of production, Saudi Arabia
provided leadership and guidance to the embargo, the united countries established
classes of consumer countries, i.e. hostile, friendly and neutral
a) hostile, to which a ban on exports was to be applied,
b) friendly, which were to benefit the September level of exports,
c) neutral, to which the remaining production was to be apportioned
Hostile- U.S., Holland, Portugal, South Africa And Rhodesia to which a full
embargo was imposed.
Friendly- those countries which had adjusted their policies in favour of the Arabs
such as Japan, Belgium. West Germany and Italy forthem to supply to September level
of exports.
Neutral- (EEC countries).
Iraq was the only dissenter among the Arab states, it opposed the cut back
decision because it did not differentiate sufficiently between friends and foes, but it
soon joined the rest of the Arab states and proclaimed a full ban on exports to the
United States and Holland.
The EEC countries were taken in the neutral group because they strongly urged
the forces on both sides to return to the original ceasefire line and urged for Israeli
withdrawal from the occupied territories and for the recognition of the rights of the
Palestinians. This declaration of EEC evoked a sympathetic response in the Arab
states. On November 21, 1973, the Secretary of State Henry Kissinger issued a
warning that the United States might have to take counter measure if the Arabs
continued their embargo. In response to this warning Sheikh Ahmad Zaki Yamani
declared that American counter measure against the oil embargo would prompt Arab
producers to reduce production by as much as 80 percent and any military intervention
would result to the destruction of oil factories.
The October war which ended not in a victory for either party but In an uneasy
ceasefire, made necessary a further classification of collective Arab policies with this
621
The, West Aslan Oil and the Great Powers
view an Arab Summit Conference convened in Algiers from 26-28 November 1 973, the
Arab heads of states declared themselves prepared to pursue a peaceful solution of the
Arab-lsraefi conflict on the basis of two principles :
a) . Israeli withdrawal from all the occupied Arab territories, headed by Jerusalem,
and
b) restoration of the national rights of the Palestinian people.
The Conference decided to ask the West European countries to stop their
military and economic assistance to Israel, as for the Asian countries they were to be
persuaded to severe all political, economic and cultural relations with Israel. India’s
response was very prompt, the spurt in oil prices in 1972-73 and the scare about the
impending oil scarcity necessitated India to strengthen its relations with the West
Asian countries. India lost Influence entirely with Israel and became a passive factor,
it abandoned her principles and interests without any incremental leverage. India’s
support to the Palestinian cause also became stronger and firmer. The secret provisions
made to strengthen Arab relations with Soviet Union and Eastern Europe to ensure a
supply of arms to the Arabs.
By that time the United States intensified its search for peaceful disengagement
in the West Asian conflicts, and in response Egypt encouraged these endeavour, and
began to press for the relaxation of oil embargo, but Saudi Arabia adamantly rejected
the lifting up of the embargo against U.S. until some tangible progress had been made
in the Arab-lsraeli conflict. The subsequent agreement of the January 17, 1974, on the
disengagement of the Arab and Israeli forces reached under American auspices, Egypt
again came forward for lifting up of the embargo. The Tripoli Conference of March
1974, brought an agreement to ease or remove the boycott, the Arab states agreed
to end the embargo against the United States on the ground that a shift had taken
place in Washington’s Arab policies, as evidenced by its active role in bringing about
an Egyptian " Israeli disengagement.
To counter balance the Arab attitude and Arab strategies the United States,
Canada, Japan, Turkey and other twelve European states finally created the Internationa!
Energy Agency (lEA) on November 15, 1974, in Paris. The main features of the lEA
were':^
a) establishment of an energy sharing agreement among the major consumer
countries in case of a new embargo,
b) setting up of a cooperative conservation and energy development programme,
The Indian Joumai of Politicar Science 622
c) establishment of a $25 million fund to recycle petro money into deficit countries,
d) the convening of a conference among the producer and consumer countries.''^
The 1973 oil embargo created a dynamic change in the international political
system, a tremendous increase in world oil consumption during 1967 and 1973 wars
dried up the exccess productive capacity outside West Asia. OPEC countries emerged
as the key suppliers and it enabled OPEC to rise oil price from $ 3 per barrel to $
36 per barrel. This increase prompted the consumer countries for investment in non
OPEC countries for exploration and development, for all this the consumer countries
established the lEA.
In any way, super powers are not ready to leave West Asia. They always want
to protect their strategic and economic interest in the region. America wanted to
protect its interests from Soviets whose military presence in the region was always
a matter of worry for Americans. After 1973, war Soviets started to cultivate a good
relationship with Iraq, Syria, South Yemen and Libya by supplying them with modern
military hardware so as to enable them to fight their war against Israel. Soviet Union
always envisaged the control of Iranian oil, if opportunity arises. To counter balance the
Soviet strategies the United States started to think for the establishment of its military
bases in the region. United States Department of State and Defense explored the
possibility of reaching agreements with one or more of the states in the Gulf and
Mediterranean. The areas considered were Mombasa, Kenya, Barbara, Somalia and
Arabian sea islands of Masira belonging to Oman. These locations had the necessary
infrastructure and could provide adequate support to naval and air forces of Rapid
Deployment Force which later in 1983 was discharged to CENTCOM as the United
States Central Command.
Oil was a great factor in the West Asian politics, even the big powers who
produce oil have been interested in the control of oil resources of the West Asian
region to maintain their supremacy and preserve their own limited resources for future.
The region was influenced more by Europe than the East despite the fact that Asian
countries identify with Arabs more than the Europeans. The Palestinian question is the
fundamental cause of the oil being used as a political instrument. Annual world energy
use is up by five times since 1 945. increases are now driven by massive developing countries—
China, India, Brazil— growing and emulating first or at least second world consumption
standards. Sharply increased consumption is the formula for global oil depletion within the
next few decades.
The situation is especially critical in the US. With barely 4% of the world’s population,
The West Asian Off and the Great Powers 623
the US consumes 26% of the world’s energy. But the US produced only 9 million barrels per
day (MBD) in 2000 while consuming 1 9 MBD, It made up the difference by importing 1 0 MBD,
or 53% of its needs. By 2020, the US Department of Energy forecasts domestic demand will
grow to 25 MBD but production will be down to 7 MBD. The daily shortfall of 18 MBD or 72%
of needs, will need all to be imported."'®
Perhaps it goes without saying but it deserves repeating anyway that oil is the back
bone of ‘industrial’ civilization — the one thing without which such civilization cannot exist. All
of the world’s 600 million automobiles depend on oil. So do virtually all other commodities and
critical processes: airlines, chemicals, plastics, medicines, agriculture, heating, etc. Almost
all of the increase in world food productivity over the past 50 years is attributable to increases
in the use of oil-derived additives: pesticides; herbicides; fungicides; fertilizers; and machinery.
When oil is gone, civilisation will be stupendously different. The onset of rapid depletion
will trigger convulsions on a global scale, Including, likely, global pandemics and die-offs of
significant portions of the world’s human population. The ‘have’ countries will face the necessity
kicking the ‘have-nots’ out of the global lifeboat in order to assure their own survival. Even
before such conditions are reached, inelastic supply interacting with inelastic demand will
drive the price of oil and oil-derived commodities through the stratosphere, effecting by market
forces alone massive shifts in the current distribution of global wealth.
If the US economy is not to grind to a halt under these circumstances it must choose
one of three alternate strategies: dramatically lower Its living standards (something it is not
willing to do); substantially increase the energy efficiency of its.economy; or make up the
shortfall by securing supplies from other countries. President Bush’s National Energy Policy
published in March 2001 explicitly commits the US to the third choice: Grab the Oil. It is this
choice that is now driving US military and national security policy. And, in fact, the past 60
years of US policy In the Middle East can only be understood as the effort to control access
to the world’s largest supply of oil.
More recent examples of national strategy in bondage to the compulsion for oil include
US support for Saddam Hussein in the Iran/Iraq War. The Gulf war and, of course, the most
recent invasion of Iraq to seize its oilfields and forward position US forces for an invasion of
neighbouring Saudi Arabia when it is inevitably destroyed by internal civil war. And under a
Grab the Oil strategy, militarisation of US society will only deepen.
The reason is that a very major portion of the world’s oil is, by accident of geology, in
the hands of states hostile to the US. Fully 60% of the world’s proven reserves of oil are in the
Persian Gulf. They lie beneath Muslim countries undergoing a religious revolution that wants
to return the industrial world to a pre-modern order governed by a fundamentalist Islamic
The Indian Journal of Political Science
624
theocracy. Saudi Arabia alone controls 25% of all the world’s oil, more than that of North
America, South America, Europe and Africa combined. Kuwait, Iran and Iraq, each control
approximately 1 0% of the world’s oil.
As long as the US chooses Grab the Oil alternative, the implications for national
policy are inescapable. The combination of all these facts— fixed supply, rapid depletion, lack
of alternatives, severity of consequences, and hostility of current stockholding countries—
drives the US to adopt an aggressive (pre-emptive) military posture and to carry out a nakedly
colonial expropriation of resources from weaker countries around the world.
This is why the US operates some 700 military bases around the world and spends
over half a trillion dollars per year on military affairs, more than all the rest of the world — its
‘allies’ included— combined. This is why the Defense Department’s latest Quadrennial Review
stated, “The US must retain the capability to send well-armed and logistically supported
forces to critical points around the globe, even in the face of enemy opposition.”^*’
But the provocation occasioned by grabbing the oil, especially from nations ideologically
hostile to the US, means that military attacks on the US and the recourse to military responses
will only intensify until the US is embroiled in unending global conflict.
In his first released tape after 9/11, Osama bin Laden stated that he carried out the
attacks for three reasons: 1) to drive US military forces from Saudi Arabia, the most sacred
place of Islam: 2) to avenge the deaths of over half a million Iraqi children killed, according to
UNICEF, as a result of the US-sponsored embargo of the 1990s; and, 3) to punish US
sponsorship of Israeli oppression against the Palestinian people. Oil and the need to control It
are critically implicated in all three reasons.’’®
In response to the 9/1 1 attacks, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld stated that
the US was engaged in “. . .a thirty to forty year war (!) against fundamentalist Islam.”^® It is the
fever of war, of course, that becomes the all-purpose Justification for the rollback of civil liberties.
Lincoln used the Civil War to justify the suspension of habeas corpus. Roosevelt used the
cover of the World War II to inter hundreds of thousands of Japanese Americans. And now,
Bush is using the self-ratcheting'“War on Terror” to effect even more sweeping, perhaps
permanent rescissions of civil iiberties.^^
The alternative to Grab the Oil is to dispense with the hobbling dependency on oil itself
and to quickly wean the country off it. Cal! It the path of Energy Reconfiguration. It is to declare
a modern day Manhattan Project aimed at minimizing the draw down in the world’s finite
stocks of oil, extending their life, and mitigating the calamity inherent in their rapid exhaustion.
It means building a physical infrastructure to the economy that is based on an alternative to
The West Asian Oil and the Great Powers 625
oil. And it means doing this not unilaterally or militarily as the US is doing now, but in peaceful
partnership with other countries of the world-the other counties in our shared global lifeboat
that are also threatened by the end of oil.
in more specific terms, energy reconfiguration means retrofitting all of the nation’s
buildings, both commercial and residential, to double their energy efficiency. It means a crash
program to shift the transportation system — cars, trucks — to a basis that uses perhaps half
as much oil per year. This is well within reach of current technology. Energy Reconfiguration
means using biotechnology to develop crops that require much less fertilizers, pesticides,
herbicides and machinery to harvest. It means refitting industrial and commercial processes-—
lighting, heating, appliances, automation, etc. — so that they, too, consume far less energy
than they do today. It means increasing efficiency, reducing consumption, and building
sustainable, long-term alternatives in every arena in which the economy uses oil.
As the United States gears up for an attack on Iran, one thing is certain: the Bush
administration will never mention oil as a reason for going to war. As in the case of Iraq,
weapons of mass destruction (WMD) will be cited as the principal justification for an American
assault. "We will not tolerate the construction of a nuclear weapon [by Iran],"^^ is the way
President Bush put it in a much-quoted 2003 statement. But just as the failure to discover
illicit weapons in Iraq undermined the administration's use of WMD as the paramount reason
for its invasion, so its claim that an attack on Iran would be justified because of its alleged
nuclear potential should invite widespread skepticism. More important, any serious assessment
of Iran's strategic importance to the United States should focus on its role in the global energy
equation. Because no war is ever prompted by one factor alone, and it is evident from the
public record that many considerations, including oil, played a role in the administration's
decision to invade Iraq. Likewise, it is reasonable to assume that many factors -- again including
oi! " are playing a role in the decision-making now underway over a possible assault on Iran.^^
Just exactly how much weight the oil factor carries in the administration's decision-
making is not something that we can determine with absolute assurance at this time, but
given the importance energy has played in the careers and thinking of various high officials of
this administration, and given Iran's immense resources, it would be ludicrous not to take the
oil factor into account - and yet you can rest assured that, as relations with Iran worsen,
American media reports and analysis of the situation will generally steer a course well clear of
the subject (as they did in the lead-up to the invasion of Iraq).
When talking about oil's importance in American strategic thinking about Iran, it is
important to go beyond the obvious question of Iran's potential role in satisfying America’s
future energy requirements. Because Iran occupies a strategic location on the north side of
The Indian Journal of Political Science
626
the Persian Gulf, it is in a position to threaten oil fields in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iraq, and the
United Arab Emirates, which together possess more than half of the world's known oil reserves.
Iran also sits athwart the Strait of Homruz, the narrow waterway through which, daily, 40% of
the world's oil exports pass. In addition, Iran is becoming a major supplier of oil and natural
gas to China, India, and Japan, thereby giving Tehran additional clout in world affairs. It is
these geopolitical dimensions of energy, as much as Iran's potential to export significant
quantities of oil to the United States, that undoubtedly govern the administration's strategic
calculations.
According to the most recent tally by Oil and Gas Journal, Iran houses the second-
largest pool of untapped petroleum in the world, an estimated 125.8 billion barrels. Only Saudi
Arabia, with an estimated 260 billion barrels, possesses more; Iraq, the third in line, has an
estimated 1 1 5 billion barrels. With this much oil - about one-tenth of the world's estimated
total supply " Iran is certain to play a key role in the global energy equation, no matter what
else occurs. And it is not just oil that Iran possesses in great abundance, but also natural gas.
According to Oil and Gas Journal, Iran has an estimated 940 trillion cubic feet of gas, or
approximately 16% of total world reserves (Only Russia, with 1 ,680 trillion cubic feet, has a
larger supply.) As it takes approximately 6,000 cubic feet of gas to equal the energy content
of 1 barrel of oil, Iran's gas reserves represent the equivalent of about 1 55 billion barrels of oil.
This, in turn, means that its combined hydrocarbon reserves are the equivalent of some 280
billion barrels of oil, just slightly behind Saudi Arabia's combined supply. At present, Iran is
producing only a small share of its gas reserves, about 2.7 trillion cubic feet per year. This
means that Iran is one of the few countries capable of supplying much larger amounts of
natural gas in the future.^'^
What all this means is that Iran will play a critical role in the world's future energy
equation. This is especially true because the global demand for natural gas is growing faster
than that for any other source of energy, including oil. While the world currently consumes
more oil than gas, the supply of petroleum is expected to contract in the not-too-dlstant future
as global production approaches its peak sustainable level -- perhaps as soon as 201 0 - and
then begins a gradual but irreversible decline. The production of natural gas, on the other
hand, is not likely to peak until several decades from now, and so is expected to take up much
of the slack when oil supplies become less abundant. Natural gas is also considered a more
attractive fuel than oil in many applications, especially because when consumed it releases
less carbon dioxide (a major contributor to the greenhouse effect).
No doubt the major U.S. energy companies would love to be working with Iran today in
developing these vast oil and gas supplies. India is also keen to obtain oii and gas from Iran.
In January, the Gas Authority of India Ltd. (GAIL) signed a 30-year deal with the National
r
I
The West Asian Oil and the Great Powers 627
Iranian Gas Export Corp. for the transfer of as much as 7.5 million tons of LNG to India per
year. The deal, worth an estimated $50 billion, will also entail Indian involvement in the
development of Iranian gas fields. Even more noteworthy, Indian and Pakistani officials are
discussing the construction of a $3 billion natural gas pipeline from Iran to India via Pakistan
an extraordinary step for two long-term adversaries. If completed, the pipeline would provide
both countries with a substantial supply of gas and allow Pakistan to reap $200-$500 million
per year in transit fees.^^
Japan has also broken ranks with Washington on the issue of energy ties with Iran. In
early 2003, a consortium of three Japanese companies acquired a 20% stake in the development
of the Soroush-Nowruz offshore field in the Persian Gulf, a reservoir thought to hold 1 billion
barrels of oil. One year later, the Iranian Offshore Oil Company awarded a $1 .26 billion contract
to Japan's JGC Corporation for the recovery of natural gas and natural gas liquids from Soroush-
Nowruz and other offshore fields.^®
When considering Iran's role in the global energy equation, therefore. Bush administration
officials have two key strategic aims: a desire to open up Iranian oil and gas fields to exploitation
by American firms, and concern over Iran's growing ties to America's competitors in the global
energy market.
The Iranian leadership is well aware that it faces a serious threat from the Bush
administration and is no doubt taking whatever steps it can to prevent such an attack. Here,
too, oil is a major factor in both Tehran's and Washington's calculations.
So, even while publicly focusing on Iran’s weapons of mass destruction, key
administration figures are certainly thinking in geopolitical terms about Iran's role in the global
energy equation and its capacity to obstruct the global flow of petroleum. As was the case
with Iraq, the White House is determined to eliminate this threat once and for all. And so.
while oil may not be the administration's sole reason for going to war with Iran, it is an essential
factor in the overall strategic calculation that makes war likely.
References :
1. M. Nakhai; “Le Petrole en Iran, Brussels”, 1938, pp. 31-32.
2. Azami; “Le Petrole en Perse”, Paris, 1 933, p. 96.
3. Benjamin Shwadran; “The Middle East Oil and the Great Powers”, Keter
Publishing House Jerusalem Ltd. 1973, p. 17.
4. Edward G. Browne; “The Persian Revolution of 1905-1909”, Cambridge, 1919, pp.
353-354.
The Indian Journal of Political Science
5. Shuster; “The Strangling of Persia", xxvii.
628
6. U.S. Senate, International Petroleum Cartel, p. 66.
7. Treaty Series No. 835, Washington, 1931, p. 2.
8. Benjarnin Shwadran; “The Middle East Oil and the Great Powers.” p. 304.
9. ibid. p. 307.
10. U.S. Senate, The International Petroleum Cartel, p. 9.
1 1 . Petroleum Press Service. XXXIX. 272, July 382, Oct. 1 972.
12. Benjamin Shwadran; “The Middle East Oil and the Great Powers”, pp. 513-514.
13. Benjamin Shwadran; “Middle East Oil Crisis since 1973", West View Press Inc. Ik
1986, p.48.
14. New York Times, November, 23, 1973.
15. News Week, December, 23, 1974.
16. Will the End of Oil Mean the End of America, Article by Robert Freeman, http;/
/www.commondreams.org. April, 27, 2004.
17. Ibid.
18. ibid.
19. Ibid. :
20. Ibid. !
21. Ibid
22. Ibid.
26. Ibid.
The Indian Journal of Political Science
m. LXVllI, No. 3, July-Sept, 2007
PRIME MINISTER'S- OFFICE : A CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Karma Singh
This essay is an iitempt to examine the emergence and growth of the Prime Minister's
Office in India. The article will reflect upon how this office originated and expanded in
terms of staff as well as functioning and how this office was used by each Prime
Minister right from Jawaharial , Nehru to Atal Behari Vajpayee. This will further explain
that although this office is extra-constitutional yet it holds prime position in our political
set up. This will also provide us with the insight that in the Indian Political System, the
Prime Minister occupies a pivotal position thus any office attached to it automatically
increases in its power and stature. This office has a proper structure and every
department / ministry is closely scrutinised here, so to say a parallel government can
be seen. It will further explain the role of the Principal Secretary, which makes one's
understanding clear about how the Prime Minister's Office plays the role and how with
every Prime Minister importance of the Prime Minister's Office changes.
The emergence of the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) can be seen much before the
Independence of the countly. The Prime Minister's Office earlier known as Prime Minister's
Secretariat (PMS) was created for the immediate purpose of assuming the function discharged
till then by the Secretaly to the Governor-General, which was taken over by the Principal
Secretary to the Prime Minister, after the independence. The Prime Minister took over almost
all the functions which the Governor-General prior to the independence performed as the
executive head of the government. In order to continue with the same assistance provided to
the Governor-General, our first Prime Minister also felt the need of having a Secretarial support
in the functioning of the government. The purpose of this office was to give Secretarial assistance
to the Governor-General which was handled by the Secretary. After independence the same
office was set up as a personal secretariat of the Prime Minister which was known as ‘Prime
Minister's Secretariat’. The need for setting up of the office was to provide an extra-support
system 1 1 to the Prime Minister so that he can devote more time in dealing with important
matters.'*
Paul H. Appleby in 1 954 recommended the establishment of Organization and Methods
(O&M) Division in the Cabinet Secretariat which was supposed to be directly under the Prime
Minister. After a decade in March 1964, Prime Minister^ Lai Bahadur Shastri established
Administrative Reforms Commission (ARC) under the Chairmanship of Morarji Desai. The
ARC which is also known as Deshmukh Study team discussed to provide adequate support
to the Indian Prime Minister. It was accepted by everyone that the Prime Minister need some
sort of support system to handle the ever increasing work. In this context two schools of
thought emerged, one suggested that the existing machinery (institutions) should be used
and other recommended setting up of the Prime Minister's Office to provide direct support to
the Prime Minister. Thus, amidst the whole discussion the Prime Minister's Secretariat came
The Indian Journal of Political Science 630
into existence. The Prime Minister's Secretariat emerged within this context and discourse.^
The Prime Minister's Office is an extra-constitutional growth which finds no mention in
the Indian Constitution.'* In this regard, the evolution of this office may be seen as the result of
the development of a convention over the years in Independent India. This office was, however,
given the status of a ‘Department’ under the Government of India (GOl), Allocation of Business
Rules, 1961. The GOl Allocation of Business Rules 1961 gives brief explanation possible
about the Prime Minister's Office, merely stating tasks of the two Secretariats/Offices as
under:
1) Prime Minister's Office: To provide Secretarial assistance to the Prime Minister.
2) Cabinet Secretariat: - (i) Secretarial assistance to the committees; (ii) Rules of Business.
From the elucidation it is evident that the overall idea was to strengthen the cabinet
secretariat and not to give prominence to the Prime Minister's Office. The Prime Minister's
Office had perhaps not started actually functioning in very striking way till 1 961 -62, as JawahariaJ
Nehru used to take decisions on his own without depending upon the office. As a result, the
Prime Minister was very much in the limelight but not his office as it was functioning on a low
key, that is merely as a support providing institution to the Prime Minister. It was only during
the tenure of Lai Bahadur Shastri as Prime Minister that the office was highlighted. The reason
could have been that he lacked charismatic personality and overall knowledge and information
like Nehru.
In 1 977, Janata Party regime came to power with Morarji Desai as the Prime Minister.
He brought the change in the nomenclature of Prime Minister's Secretariat to Prime Minister's
Office which is better known by its acronym PMO thereafter. This was done to tone down the
influence of this office in the overall functioning of the central government. However, this idea to
reduce the importance of the office remained only in theory whereas in reality this office
acquired extra-constitutional authority during the Prime Minister Mrs. Gandhi's tenure. It can
be considered as a regular & well established institution as every Prime Minister depended
upon it. During Lai Bahadur Shastri's tenure the office acquired shape & later it got prominence
during Indira Gandhi's period. Although Morarji Desai tried to make changes, that is he changed
its name & even reduced the size of the office, this office has survived and has existed since
independence & continues to remain the most important centre of power. In this process it
has even faced bitter criticism about concentrating power & influencing decision making at
every level.®
Some scholars reveal that there is nothing specific which mentions that the Principal
Prime Minister's Office : A Critical Analysis 631
Secretary to the Prime Minister should be either a serving or a retired civil servant. But in
practice, we find that right Dum the Independence till date the Principal Secretary has been
either a serving or a retired civil servants. Even during the tenure of Atal Behari Vajpayee,
Principal Secretary to Prime Minister was not only a high ranking retired civil servant of the
Indian Foreign Service Cadre, but was also a person who held an important position in the
party after his retirement n-om the service. But, what is seen as most essentia! requirement
for the Principal Secretary is the trust of the Prime Minister. The office has a certain Code of
Conduct and Rules of Business and its functioning is noted in a written document. However,
due to the very confidential nature of this office, the details although required, are not available
even for academic or scholarly research,^
The Prime Minister's Office acts as a link between the Prime Minister and his Ministers,
the President, the Governors, Chief Ministers and foreign representatives. We even see that it
manages all the work (official) associated with the Prime Minister. This office is also concerned
with party matters, personal correspondences & complaints which come from the public to
the Prime Minister etc. We can see that the jurisdiction of the secretariat (PMO) covers all
those subjects & activities which are not categorically allotted to any individual ministry/
department. The main task of the secretariat is to give assistance to the Prime Minister in
transmitting the responsibility as the head of the government. The principal functions of the
Prime Minister's Office may be summarized as dealing with whatever is mentioned under the
Rules of Business; helping the Prime Minister in discharging his overall responsibility as the
chief executive, as the chairman of the planning commission; to maintain the public relation
aspect of the Prime Minister's Office; in operating the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund
(PMNRF) & National Defence Fund (NDF); and to handle the crisis situation relating to public
issues of national importance & urgency. However, this cannot be considered as entire spectrum
of functions performed by the Prime Minister's Office. Apart from the above mentioned functions
several other works are handled by it like, answering all those questions which cannot be
answered by any particular ministry. It manages all the communication matters of the Prime
Minister, and its work stretches to the extent of drafting the important speeches and declaration
of the Prime Minister. In the contemporary times, it has been observed that the Prime Minister's
Office has virtually become the Think Tank* for the Prime Minister. The viewpoint behind its
establishment can be considered to leave the Prime Minister with sufficient time to look into
major policy decision making.®
it is Nehru who brought the Prime Minister's Secretariat into existence, though his idea
to establish a high powered secretariat along with cabinet secretariat was not supported by
either his colleagues or the senior civil servants. Thus, Nehru did not try to establish separate
f
The Indian Journal of Political Science 632 j
secretariat for the Prime Minister during his tenure from 1 947 until his death in May 1 964. He ‘ .
maintained a small secretarial stafflmown as Prime Minister's personal office which could not
acquire extra-constitutional authority due to Nehru. In the words of Mathai, his Persona!
Assistant, the staff remained "Mechanics" or "Gatherers" and "Conveyors" of the information i
only. However, not being allowed to establish a powerful secretariat, Nehru carried a big part I
of his work through the foreign office which he headed. As a result this ministry attained an out
of proportion importance & status.®
Initially, when India got Independence Nehru had appointed H V.R Iyengar (ICS) as
Principal Private Secretai)' to the Prime Minister. He handled two posts together one of the
cabinet secretai)' & the other Principal Private Secretaly to the Prime Minister. This was
deliberately done as a part of a policy which becomes clear ftom the letter of Viceroy Lord
Wavell, which states that Nehru's Private Secretariat to be integrated with the Cabinet Secretariat
as it will be easier for Nehru to function at the same time he may be stopped from misusing I
power. Amidst ail confusion, the post of Principal Private Secretary to the Prime Minister was
reduced to the post of Joint Secretary, thus reducing the status of the Principal Private Secretary j
which was done to let everyone know that he (Nehru) did not want to use the office in an
autocratic manner. Thus, the importance of Cabinet Secretariat remained as it is. After assuming
the office of Prime Minister, Nehru set the trend of Principal Private Secretary to the Prime i
Minister attending all cabinet meetings which contradict Nehru's action of reducing the status i
of Principal Private Secretary. Since then this has become a tradition which has not beeh j
questioned till today."'® I
During Shastri's period, we see the establishment of an independent secretariat headed
by the Principal Private Secretaly along with three joint secretaries and since then the size &
importance of the Prime Minister’s Secretariat has been increasing. The reason behind its
creation can be several one may be as he was not very familiar with issues which enabled him
to attend to the responsibilities and thus, he had to have an alternate system of effective
functioning. From here begins the process of growing in importance the office of the Prime
Minister's Secretariat. In the view ofM. O. Mathai, Nehru's personal assistant, it was under
Shastri and Indira Gandhi that the Prime Minister's Secretariat underwent a metamorphosis.
During Shastri's tenure the Prime Minister's Secretariat was headed by the Principal Secretaly
L. K Jha, under whom the office gained unprecedented power.
The Prime Minister's Office as we know today attained colossal dimension since the
early 70's when Indira Gandhi assumed power which resulted in reducing the importance of
the Cabinet Secretariat. Ideally, the Cabinet Secretaly in the cabinet system of government
Prime Minister's Office : A Critfca! Analysis 633
holds the most important position among the civil servants in the country. He is a link between
the political & permanent functionaries of the government, but the status of his office was
reduced as the Prime Minister's Office gained more prominence.^
In 1 977 Moralji Desai assumed the office for a short term. He tried to undo the excesses
of the emergency during Mrs. Gandhi’s period. The first step taken was to downgrade the
status by changing the nomenclature 'Secretariat to 'Office'. Thus, the Prime Minister's
Secretariat was redesignated as Prime Minister's Office (PMO).
The role of the Prime Minister's Office becomes almost inevitable as in a parliamentary
democracy the Prime Minister is central to the functioning of the government. Thus, the Prime
Minister's Office depends mostly on the individual style of the Prime Minister.
The Prime Minister's Office is essentially an extension of the political role of the Prime
Minister and it very much depends on how a Prime Minister prefers his role to be performed.
Under Rajiv Gandhi, the office expanded both in terms of quantity & quality thus bringing
back the role of extra-constitutional authorities.''^ V. P. Singh tried to streamline the functioning
of the Prime Minister's Office. He abolished several posts in the Prime Minister's Office,
reducing the size of the office. Chandrashekhar's tenure was too short to make any impact In
the working of the Prime Minister's Office. The office once again began to assume power &
importance under Narashimha Roo. The Prime Minister's Office seems to be often interfering
with the normal government machinery. The most striking example of this was when the
Foreign Investment & Promotion Board was kept directly under Principal Secretary to the
Prime Minister. In 1998, with Atal Behari Vajpayee heading coalition government, yet the
office acquired powerful stature. Like every Prime Minister, Vajpayee also expressed his trust
& confidence in his Principal Secretary. For the first time during Vajpayee's tenure, the Principal
Secretary to the Prime Minister even held the post of National Security Advisor (N.S.A.). He
was even sent abroad as the personal envoy of the Prime Minister without any prior consultation
with the Foreign Minister. Any file relating to Defence Ministry would reach the Prime Minister
only after it has been cleared by N.S.A. It has been observed that not only Defence Ministry
but even Home Ministry was at times, overshadowed by Principal Secretary, Brajesh Mishra.
It has been widely accepted that the survival of any Principal Secretary depends only on
Prime Minister's desire to retain him.
As every office has the structural set-up, so do the Prime Minister's. Office. But, one
does not come across it either In the Constitution or anywhere else. The structure has evolved
over the years based on the prerogative of the Prime Minister. Initially, it was influenced to an
extent by the British practices. During Nehru's tenure it was not allowed to grow into a powerful
The Indian Journal of Political Science
634
organization and therefore, we do not find any structure as such. Over the years, in the post
Independence years, we see that the structure has gradually taken shape depending on the
needs of the Prime Minister in order to suit the changing time & situation. The Prime Minister's
Office which was headed by Secretary to the Prime Minister is now designated as the Principal
Secretary to the Prime Minister.
The Principal Secretary is at the apex of the pyramid in the Prime Minister's Office.
There is no essential qualification laid down for Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister. The
only essential qualification needed for the post is the trust of the Prime Minister. Here it would
be worth mentioning that till now this post has been occupied only by civil servants either
working or retired. Even though there are no fixed duties laid down for the Principal Secretary,
every thing depends on what the Prime Minister wants. His area of functioning has not been
limited. It can be both political as well as administrative. He handles every government file in
the office and looks after all those ministries affairs that the Prime Minister may ask him for.
Sometimes, he is even given the responsibility of preparing answers to questions asked in the
parliament for the Prime Minister, which could not be answered by any particular ministry.
This further makes it clear that even after so many criticisms Principal Secretary to the Prime
Minister survives because he acts on behalf of the Prime Minister and at the same time as
directed by the Prime Minister. Except principal secretary, rest of the posts like that of additional
secretary, joint secretary, director, have been brought Into existence according to the needs
of the Government. It is even observed that during the tenure of every Prime Minister some
new posts were created such as the post of Press Secretary in 1 965 was created during Lai
Bahadur Shastri's tenure and in 1 968 Social Secretary post was created during Mrs. Gandhi's
tenure.'''^
The subject matter of the files decides whether it will be submitted to the Prime Minister
or not. Only important issues relating to policy matters which the concerned ministers feel
should be submitted to the Prime Minister for orders or infurmation are received in the Prime
Minister's Office. The Prime Minister has traditionally been the Minister-In-Charge of the
Department of Space, Atomic Energy and the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances &
Pensions. The Prime Minister is also the Chairman of the Planning Commission thus, the
relevant files are forwarded to the Prime Minister's Office for his comments & clearance. Some
matters which the Prime Minister looks into personally are issues concerning defence matter,
decision relating to cabinet secretariat, policy matters concerning the administration of the
civil services & the administrative reforms, appointments of State Administrative Tribunals, &
the Central Administrative T ribunals UPSC, Election Commission, etc.. A.N.Verma, the principal
secretary to the former Prime Minister Narashimha Roo, in an interview told that various files
Prime Minister's Office : A Critical Analysis 635
that reached the Prime Minister's Office were looked after by some officers in the Prime
Minister's Office because 1 he Prime Minister could not go through all the files on his own. All
the facts relating to the ministries are available In the Prime Minister's Office which provides
the Prime Minister with much information.
The Prime Minister's Office has no inherent power. It reflects the thinking of the Prime
Minister like it was pro-active during Indira Gandhi's tenure, it became powerful under Narasimha
Roo government & during Vajpayee's tenure the office came under pressure to shed power but
it did not happen.
Nehru's long tenure makes it clear that any Prime Minister requires a strong,
well-staffed office to help him discharge his duties. Prime Minister's Office total staff strength
in 1 949 was six in number as per one source and according to another was 1 1 6. In 1 958-59,
it consisted of 1 29 persons including all the categories. In 1 961 -62 it reduced to 1 01 . Nehru
had a multiple staff such as a personal secretariat which was headed by a Principal Private
Secretary, a secretary general & a private secretary. On the request of the Prime Minister,
Mathai was designated as the Special Assistant to the Prime Minister in Prime Minister's
Secretariat. Every file or paper used to reach Prime Minister after being scanned by Mathai.
When Shastri came to power he originally intended to head his staff by two secretaries
namely L. K. Jha, a former Finance Secretary for looking after Economic affairs and
L. P. Singh, an IC.S. for General Administration. During his tenure we see a phenomenal rise
in the staff strength which went up to 235 in number.
Till Vajpayee's government, we do not come across any forma! structure of the Prime
Minister's Office. But his government reveals that each and every appointment made in the
office is well calculated and filled with reliable officials on whom the Prime Minister has full
confidence. His tenure reveals that there has been a proper structure existing and accordingly
the work is distributed. Every joint secretary is allotted number of ministries/departments
under them along with the concerned States and they are assisted by the directors and the
Officer on Special Duty under them. The office is hesitant about revealing its own functioning
which further makes it clear about the confidentiality regarding the functioning of this office.
The following chart reveals that almost all the ministries were looked after by the officials of the
Prime Minister's Office during V ajpayee' s time at the Secretary level which automatically
brings all of them under the scrutiny and supervision of the Prime Minister's Office.^®
I
The Indian Journal of Political Science
636
Structure of the Prime IVlinister's Office
f
If we analyze right from Independence, we find a steady increase in the strength of
the staff although Morarji Desai cut down the size of the Prime Minister's Office yet the total
number of posts rose from 194 in 1977 to 203 in 1979. This shows that within the gap of two
years during Morarji Desai's tenure also, there was Increase in the number of staff. I.K.
Gujral who did not remain In power for long yet maintained 202 staffs and the Vajpayee
government had a huge manpower of total 400 staffs ip the Prime Minister's Office. Even
though there is no formal structure of the Prime Minister's Office, we find that every goverment
has been carrying out with certain structure and creating new posts as per the demand of
the time or according to the requirement of the functioning. In Vajpayee's Government, one
finds a new development that is the post of National Security Advisor has been combined
with the Principal Secretary, Similarly, we find the Intelligence agencies also functioning
closely in contact with the Prime Minister's Office.
637
Prime Minister's Office : A Critical Analysis
Apart from a regular structure that exists right from Nehru's period, with increase and
decrease in the strength of the staff, we find the Prime Minister's Office is connected with
other offices. The Prime Minister's Office handles the public grievances where it receives a
large number of petitions which includes request for financial and medical aid, Job placement,
messages for various functions, suggestions for improving governance, etc. These petitions
are properly sorted out in the Prime Minister's Office Office and are forwarded to the concerned
ministry/departments for necessary action. The public wing in the Prime Minister's Office is
placed in the charge of an officer on special duty and the records are maintained on computer.
This step relating to public grievances were taken by Vajpayee government whereas in Nehru's
time the same use to be collected at Prime Minister's house and many were personally
handled by him.
According to the recommendation of the Administrative Reform Commission which
was set up in 1 964, there should not be any portfolio/ministry In change of the Prime Minister
and if he is holding one, it should not be stressing him out so that he can utilize his time in
other important work. However, in actual practice the recommendation was not carried out.
The Prime Minister has always kept some important ministries under him. The role of the
Prime Minister's Office multiples automatically when the Prime Minister's portfolios increases
like holding the Department of, Atomic Energy has become a tradition of the Indian Prime
Minister since the days of Nehru. At times, a sort of friction is observed between the ministries
and the Prime Minister's Office, for example the Prime Minister's Office Planned the Tarapur
fuel dispute with United States to the Ministry of Externa! Affairs and the Department of
Atomic Energy.
The Prime Minister's Office has been powerful during the Emergency period for which it
was criticized for going far beyond its functioning. During Mrs. Gandhi's tenure the Department
of Revenue Intelligence and the Department of Enforcement (before emergence both were in
the Ministry of Finance) were brought under the control of the Prime Minister's Office. After
she was out of power, all departments were returned to their respective ministries. We even
find the Intelligence agencies like the Intelligence Bureau (B), the Central Bureau of Investigation
(CBI) and the Criminal Investigation Department (Special Branch) with the IB and a special
ceil created for the purposes of external intelligence known as Research and Analysis Wing
(RAW) which was separated from its parent organization (Home Ministry) was placed under
the Cabinet Secretariat. This gave extensive benefit to the Prime Minister during the period of
Internal Emergency and this made the Prime Minister's Office and through it the Prime Minister
an unquestioned supreme ruler in India. The concentration of power in the hands of Prime
Minister and her secretariat undermined the normal functioning of the government and its
machinery.
The Prime Minister's Office also maintains the Prime Minister's National Relief Fund
(PMNRF) and the National Defence Fund (NDF). This was created to provide immediate relief
The Indian Journal of Political Science
638
to the people in distress and is directly operated from the Prime Minister's Office. These funds
are utilized for the immediate relief to the families of those suffered in natural calamities like
flood, cyclones, etc. And even to the needy people for medical treatments such as like heart
surgery, kidney transplantation, etc. According to an official of the Prime Minister's Office, the
fund section is separately managed by the officers headed by the joint secretary. Similarly,
the NDF is also maintained by the Prime Minister's Office and its fund is used primarily for the
relief & rehabilitation of the windows and the orphans of army personnel who are killed or
imprisoned during the war. Thus, there are several departments attached to the Prime Minister's
Office makes it impossible for the Prime Minister to look into everything and therefore, an
office apart from the normal structure, prevailing in the system becomes necessary.^®
During Indira Gandhi's tenure, the Prime Minister's Office came to limelight due to
Principal Secretaies P. N. Haksar and P.C. Alexander. Under Indira Gandhi the Prime Minister's
Office became very powerful. The civil servants who were personally loyal to her assumed
As it is already discussed, during Nehru's time the Prime Minister's Office was an
insignificant part of the system and it did not overshadow the cabinet secretariat. Nehru was
well versed with the situation of the country thus, he hardly required any office to guide him.
Although he did not create a strong secretariat yet he continued to do work through it. After
Nehru's death, it is Lai Bahadur Shastri who brought the Prime Minister's Office into actual
functioning. He inducted two senior civil servants Dharma Vira and L. K. Jha. L. K. Jha who
was appointed as Principal Private Secretary to the Prime Minister demanded to change his
disignation as the ‘Secretary to the Prime Minister’ to which Shastri agreed without any
reason. The office became the centre of power under L. K. Jha. He influenced several areas in
the government functioning and used to be part of all committees at the Secretary level in the
Government of India. There were instructions given to ministry to keep the Prime Minister's
Office informed about all the matters. In the wrods of L. K. Jha, “I had to advice him in most
matters, including the war with Pakistan, the Non Alignment Summit, Britain, Canada. And as
Shastriji was not in good health, people would come and ask me rather than him. Sometimes,
for the UN Security Council meeting, our man there would ring me up at 2 a.m. rather than
disturb Shastriji. I would either give a response if I know the Prime Minister's mind or say I
would get back to the caller after speaking to the Prime Minister. But acutally, my role was
important largely because of Shastriji's weak physical condition. So at many times I had to
present myself. And also, I was on so many committees." His position can be understood
further by his statement : ‘‘So when 1 was not speaking on Shastriji's behalf or giving the Prime
Minister position, I was thinking of ruling at a perosnal level." This position, a Secretary can
acquire only in the situation when the highest office of the countiy is headed by a weak Prime
Minister.
PrimeWinister'sOfflce: A Critical Analysis 639
greater influence within the office. In 1 969-70, we come across the demand of a pofitcaj^jpyaity
from the bureaucrats, commitmetns from the Civil Servants wer demanded and theatfgument
put forth was that the neutral administrative machinery is the hindrance and not d help, and it
is hardly relevant to Indian conditions. Rajiv Gandhi also continued on the Same line. The
partisan promotions and transfers of senior bureaucrats were the regular pHennomena.
The BJP led coalition government brought Prime Minister's Office into prominence. The
importance given to the office of the Prime Minister becomes all the more clear when Brajesh
Mishra was appointed on the same day as the Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister.
When BJP led government took charge of the office, Prime Minister Vajpayee made a statement
when demands were made to remove Mishra from the position of Principal Secretary that
instead of asking Brajesh Mishra to quit, he (Vajpayee) “might himself quit”. Even BJP allies
Shiv Sena and RSS wanted him to be replaced although there were no charges against him.
But, they felt that he had become real power centre and Prime Minister himself had begun to
depend on his Principal Secretary. The working of this office shows that no Prime Minister
took the initiative to define the role of Prime Minister's Office."'® One prominent reason to it
could be that they wanted to use it according to their own convenience. Another could be that
defining the role would mean putting restrain on oneself. What we could assess is that it is
only in theory that Prime Minister's Office is to assist the Prime Minister whereas in reality, it
has come to work with Prime Minister and on behalf of the Prime Minister. What we can
conclude from the overall discussion is that the bureaucracy thrives uder cloak of Prime
Minister. It is the Prime Minister on whose wish the Principal Secretary acquires important
position in the political system and that the Prime Minister's Office is an essential part of the
government.
References :
1. Arora, Ramesh K & Rajni Goyal, Indian Public Administration: Institutions & Issues,
Washwa Prakashan, New Delhi, 1995.
2. Appleby, Paul H. Cabinet Secretariat. Report of a Survey, Presidents Press, New Delhi,
1953.
3. Srinivastava, C.P. A Life of Lai Bahadur, Shastri Truth in Politics, Oxford University
Press, New Delhi, 1995.
4. Avasthi & Avasthi. Indian Administration, Laxmi Narain Agarwal, Agra, 1 995.
5. Allocation of Business Rules, Transaction of Business Rules, Cabinet.
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640
6. Nayar, Kuldip. India After Nehru, Vikas Pub. House Pvt. Ltd., Delhi, 1 975.
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India, 1989,1991,1998,2002.
8. Deshmukh, B. G. Prime Minister's Office : We cannot and need not do without it, The
Indian Journal of Public Administration, No, 3, July - September, 1997.
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Delhi, 1978.
10. Mishra, D. P. Living an Era, Vol. II The Nehru Epoch : From Democracy to Monocracy,
Vikas Pub House Pvt. Ltd. New Delhi, 1978.
1 1 . Malhotra, Inder. Indira Gandhi : A Personal & Political Biography, Hodder & Stoughton,
London, 1989.
12. Seshan, N. K. With Three Prime Ministers ; Nehru, Indira and Rajiv, Wiley Eastern
Ltd., N. Delhi, 1993.
1 3. Speech of President of India to Parliament, Government of India, February 1 9, 2001
(Budget-2001 -2002)
14. AvasthI, A. Central Administration, Tata McGraw Hill Publishing Company Ltd., New
Delhi, 1980.
15. Avasthi & Maheshwari. Public Administration, Lakshmi Narain Agarwal, Agra, 1 994.
16. Johari, J.'C. Indian Political System [A Critical Study of the Constitutional Structure
and the Emerging Trends of Indian politics], Anmol Publication Pvt. Ltd. New Delhi,
1996. ,
17. Mishra, D. P. The Post Nehru Era : Political Memoirs, Har Anand Pub, New Delhi,
1993.
18. Maheshwari, S. R. Public Administration, Lakshmi Narain Agarwal, Agra, 2000.
The Indian Journal of Political Science ;
Vol. LXVill, No. 3. July-Sept., 2007
BOOK REVIEW
Measure For Measure: Lynching Deaths (n West Bengal A Socioiogica! Study by
Samit Kar, K.P.Bagchi & Company, Kolkata, 2006, pp. 247, Price Rs. 400.
Anything, any process or belief that somewhere detaches itself from the past or its
contemporaries is termed as modern, which may be either progressive or regressive, for not
all modernization is development Modernization, of course, may be instrumental in
development; therefore, it is merely one of the means through which the goal of development
may be achieved. Modernization, however, comes with its own share of demerits, it promises
the society with a better, smooth, comfortable, less burdening and happier life, but the picture
is not all that rosy. For some of the facets of modernization are more often than not at
loggerheads with each other, for example, education and high-wage employment, guiding
tenets of global governance and societal formations and the like; that is brotherhood, equality
and peace get botched. And these consequential aspects of modernization process strike a
blow on the society in terms of mounting social unrest and disharmony at the global, national
and regional levels the world over. It is this that gets reflected in the outbreak of lynching
deaths in West Bengal as they unabatedly continue since three decades now, the issue that
has been explicitly dealt with from a sociological perspective in this book while analyzing the
social impact of modernization detailing out the reasons behind unabated occurrence of
lynching deaths in the state. The book is a published portrayal of the social survey carried
out by the author, Mr. Samit Kar, on lynching deaths in West Bengal by availing UGC
assistance. The present study is based on fieldwork findings in the two districts of the state:
South 24 Parganas and North Dinajpur; and has been compiled into seven chapters preceded
by an introduction, and at the end an exhaustive series of various tables has been appended
divided into six parts.
The ‘Introduction’ to the book giving a summarized view of the study discusses the
universal phenomenon of disturbing spread of the culture of violence and vandalism. It cites
some important international experiences of social violence, and puts forward the reality of
growing dissension in the Indian society where communalism runs as an ideology, casting a
special focus on the case of West Bengal. Further gives various reasons behind the alarming
rate of lynching in rural areas of West Bengal, and also suggests a few plans of action that
the Government may initiate to combat lynching through active participation of panchayats.
Also discusses social and psychological theories explaining the reasons behind unparalleled
lynching cases in the countryside of West Bengal.
The first chapter provides ‘Background of the Study’ in which the author deliberates
over what lynching is, traces its origin, and delineates its history rooted in American society.
A general account of lynching deaths has been provided as also some exclusive newspaper
reports on lynching deaths in West Bengal in order to provide the readers an insight into the
Book-Review
nature of such instances in the state.
642
The second chapter brings to the readers the Theoretical Background’ of lynching to
show how and why human behaviour is so motivated as to inflict sufferings on others with
such brutality. In this chapter the author informs that socio-psychologists view lynching as a
form of aggressive behaviour. In order to understand the underlying causes of lynching it is
imperative to first understand the human behaviour and its various dimensions, like need,
motivation, frustration, aggression, etc. Both sociological and psychological theories of human
aggression have been discussed which in turn provide a theoretical explanation for lynching.
The third chapter talks about the ‘Social History of West Bengal’ and the state’s performance
in various fields, in this course, the author discusses the various stages of the social history
of India in terms of de-industrialization and peasant movements, in much detail. He wades
through history to give an account of the various social, political and economic factors that
hampered the domestic industry in the country and impaired the entire socio-economic set-
up putting the country’s economy on back-foot. West Bengal was extensively affected as it
offered a fertile ground for all these events for many a reason. Discusses the significance of
peasant movements, and the Congress-peasants interface, organization of Kisan Sabhas in
Bengal. Also discusses the land reforms initiated by the Government of India to do away
with feudal polity, and also their implementation and performance in West Bengal. In addition,
throws light on frustration looming large over helpless and suppressed rural-agrarian society.
The fourth chapter ‘Caste System in West Bengal’ acquaints its readers with the social
structure in West Bengal that is largely dependent on the system of caste, with castes being
divided into two main groups ?? Brahmins and Shudras. it has come to fore that the Union
Government’s policy of positive discrimination has been inherently paradoxical as the seeds
of a new form of casteism hidden in it have germinated over the substratum of government
patronage, thus enabling many to derive mileage of various forms. Caste, both in its latent
and manifest forms, remains a potent force in determination of rural power dynamics in
West Bengal, alongwith several other variables.
The fifth chapter depicts the exercise undertaken by the author for ‘Searching the
Reasons of Assertive Legacy’ of lynching deaths In the state, and offers a perusal on the
social fabric of rural West Bengal. This chapter has been divided into six sections. Section I
deals with the experience of Third World nations in regard to globalization and the related
processes. Section ii discusses the socio-historical perspective of the rural social fabric of
the state. Section 111 puts forward West Bengal’s achievement in offering an alternative
approach to development reliant on people's participation. Sections IV and V provide the
methodology of the present study and its findings. The last section highlights the active
involvement of the rural local bodies in West Bengal in context of LPG wave (Liberalization-
Privatization-Globalization), depicting the strengthening panchayats and empowering rural
Book-Review
masses in the state.
643
The sixth chapter presents the ‘Findings of the Study’ carried out by the present
researcher in the districts of South 24 Parganas and North Dinajpur as the quantum of
lynching deaths occurring here is quite large. Three case studies have been presented to
show how lynching is being used by masses as a weapon against crime in the wake of
indifferent and weakening police system in the state, further reducing the law and order
machinery to a mockery. The analysis of the fieldwork findings runs through seven sections:
demographic profile, law and order situation, respondents’ faith in police and administration,
reasons behind lynching, nature of the recent incidents of lynching, solution to the problem
of lynching, and role of media, it has come to light that lynching can be abated by educating
the masses against it and simultaneously reforming the law and order system to make it
more efficient through stringent laws and expeditious judicial system. Media’s role where on
one hand can be very fruitful in creating public awareness to prevent lynching; it also
somewhere is responsible for deviating the masses by creating negative public attitude
towards police and administration.
The last chapter draws ‘Conclusion’ from the study suggesting that lynching deaths in
West Bengal are the result of ventilation of frustration by teeming millions driven by the spirit
of pro-people collective action. The dynamic decentralized process running at the behest of
common villagers and the breaking law and order machinery have been the root cause
behind unleashing of mob-violence in the form of lynching. Continued cases of lynching
pose a threat to the society as it sets a perception of social acceptability towards such
ghastly and barbaric acts. The present researcher has also tried to draw a comparison
between lynching in West Bengal and that in America, and found that lynching in America
was motivated mainly by racist ideology, but there is no communal aspect of the lynching
issue in West Bengal.
There are six Appendices with regard to: i)Crime and lynching in different districts of
West Bengal (1996-2001), ii)Area profiles of the study area, iii)Respondents, lv)Lynching
cases in West Bengal, v) Crime statistics of different states of India, vi) District-wise data on
lynching deaths in West Bengal (2001-2005). At the end of the book a very exhaustive
Bibliography has been supplied by the researcher.
The author nowhere tries to justify these acts of criminality either overtly or covertly.
He very assertively states that ‘rural vigilantism’ in no way merits such shameful acts which
are a vociferous proof of a stinking society. It is a very coherent, well woven and neatly
narrated study, but required a slightly more careful proof reading exercise. Nevertheiess
exhibits an input of great effort on the part of the researcher, and is a very remarkable eye-
opener to the issue studied thereby.
Aditi Tyagi
Book-Review
BOOK REVIEW
644
Nalin Kumar Pohapatra, Political Culture and Democratic Development in Central
Asia, Maulana Abu! Kalam Azad Institute of Asian Studies, Kolkata, and Bookwell,
New Delhi, 2006, Rs.750/- (ISBN 81-89640-17-8).
The notion of political culture has gained wide popularity in the decades of 1 950s and
1960s in the discipline of Political Science. Political culture gives an answer to how can a
country manages democracy and ensures its political stability despite numerous hindrances?
Some times the study of political culture provides answer to question - why one system fails
and another survives despite their acquisition of independence at similar time? Main attribute
of such development may be due to their adoption of divergent cultural perspectives. The
present book under review also deals with some of these issues and gives a lucid explanation
of notion of political culture and democratic development in the context of Central Asia.
This book has six chapters followed by conclusion and a postscript. First chapter
deals with a theoretical presentation of the twin concept of democracy G.nd political culture
and their suitability to the newly independent Central Asian Republics (CARs). Author analyses
democracy as a broader socio-cultural phenomenon and is of the view that the existing
sociocultural and economic conditions provide the necessary thrust to instititutional aspect
of democracy. While in the narrow term it is limited only to the institutional aspect. Author
visualizes further that any mismatch between these twin aspects are likely to generate
instability in the state. Here task of the political elite becomes significant as to balance both
these forces so that political stability can be maintained. Here comes the importance of the
notion of political culture. In this post-Soviet era the states of Central Asia are facing the
problems of consolidation of the democratization process and limiting the damaging
consequences of democratic deficit and trust deficit among political elites and masses in
these states. Author also demonstrates how culture with a political leaning can play an
important role in shaping the political dynamics of a country ? While finding many similarities
between newly independent states of Asia and Africa as well as the post-Soviet Central
Asian states Mohapatra Is quite right when he observes that, “One has to look into the
cultural aspects before embarking upon democratization process. Simply universalizing the
norms and values of democracy cannot help much." (p.23),
In the light of above theoretical perspective author examines the process of political
developments in CARs both during historical and contemporary periods in the next chapter.
Historically speaking, geographical location and cross-cultural inter-regional connections
provides a fertile soil for growth of paternalistic political culture In the Central Asia. Flourishing
of nomadic, semi-nomadic and sedentary civilizations have also influenced the developments
in Central Asia in the past. Despite ruled by divergent groups, this region provides an organic
notion of state emerged viewed the author. Obedience to elderly ruling authority and respect
for one's own clan group are some of the other features of political culture prevalent In
Central Asia. These customary rules and regulations are transmitted from generation to
Book-Review
645
generation and provided continuity to the political processes in the contemporary Central
Asia. Nature of Tsarist administrative system also has its influence in these states. The
political developments of Centra! Asia after the . formation of U.S.S.R as wei! as the socio-
economic development that took place during that period have also been evaluated. Thus,
the Tsarist annexation of Central Asia and the formatiort of Soviet Union have worked as
most significant factors in shaping the political culture of contemporary Centra! Asia.
in the third chapter author dwells at length on the role of Glasnost (openness) and
Perestroika (restructuring) in shaping the political process of these states. He is of the view
that these concepts not only worked as mechanisms to reform the erstwhile Soviet political
system, but also facilitated the growth of "dialectic political culture" in this region. This he
attributes to the sociocultural development that took place in the region. Emergence of informal
political groups, liberalized political environment as well as new ways of managing political
system led to the faulty management of political system that created chaos in the system.
This probably worked as one of the important factor responsible for disintegration of former
Soviet Union.
Fourth chapter evaluated the factor and forces facilitating the process of
democratization in this region. After providing a comprehensive and holistic picture of the
democratic development in Central Asia the author lists out major achievements accomplished
by the political elites since the attainment of independence. Instead of relying on Western
models for this purpose author lists out various indigenous models which can be used for
ensuring smoother democratisation process. Here emphasis has been given on the politics
of constitutional amendment, electoral politics and role of political parties in sustaining
democratisation process of these states. An indepth analysis of how the political elites of
Centra! Asia, using existing transitional socioeconomic crisis as a pretext to prolong their
rule, have also been made. Author has rightly remarked that, "Democracy is not ail about
holding regular election to the high offices and establishing institutional structure of governance
but it also implies, fulfilling the needs and aspirations of the masses as wei! as giving them an
opportunity to have a say in the governance of the state, "(p. 168)
Informal political process and social structure play an important role in shaping the
democratisation process. Central Asia being a traditional society has been more influenced
by such setup. Informal political process like clan, mahalla and civil society are playing
significant role to shape the transient political culture as well as political processes in these
states. These are some of the issues addressed in the fifth chapter of this study. Author has
rightly observed that these factors are not only "shaping the political process of the present
Central Asian states, [but] are also helping to a great extent in fostering the creation of new
value system largely conditioned by them [informal process]". (p.179) Though it is generally
perceived that thriving of personal and clan networks Impedes the democratisation process,
yet the author has succinctly brought out how these clans play the role of fostering the
democratisation process in all the five states of Central Asia? Besides clan role of mahalla
structure has also been evaluated and highlighted. These mahalla structures are responsible
Book-Review 6^6
to “articulate" and "aggregate" the demand of the masses and communicate the same to the
political system. Sometimes they play the role of local judicial authority in resolving local
disputes. Civil society though a new phenomenon in Central Asia is also playing an important
role despite its numerolis limitations. Despite these positive developments one cannot ignore
the negative role of corruption as part of informal political process. Thus, it is inevitable that
howsoever modem a political system may be the role of traditional and informal political
processes cannot be ruled out.
In the last chapter role of ethno-nationalistic and religious fundamentalist groups to
pose a challeiige to the nascent democratlsation process of the Central Asian states has
been analyzed. These factors have been examined to understand the capacity of the political
system to withstand the stress and strain generated through the mobilization of these two
forces. Politics of language, rewriting of history, growth of indigenous administration, the
dichotomy of civic vs. ethnic nationalism etc. have also been highlighted for complete
understanding of the phenomenon. Negative and positive implications of Islam have also
been evaluated. Author viewed that in the post- Soviet period radical Islam Is playing negative
role in these states. In this context, role-played by Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU)
arid Hizbt-tahrir-A!-!slaml (HTI), in propagating xenophobia throughout Central Asia, comes
out very prominently. He is also apprehensive that these tendencies are going to work as
major irritant in the states of Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan. This can only be overcome
with the growth of pluralistic political culture in Central Asia. Findings of the study are recorded
in the form of conclusion. The postscript has been added to meet out the gap between the'
completions of research till the time of its publication.
Thus, the above work is one of the original and seminal studies to examine the political
culture and democratic development of Central Asia based on rich bibliography as is evident
from the t-xt. Field study conducted by the scholar in Moscow and Almaty for this project
has certainly added charm for the student in this area. The study is unique as it has not only
evaluated democratization process from institutional perspective, but has presented a holistic
analysis of historical, sociological and economic factors in shaping the political culture and
democratlsation process. Now the question arises - Can the concept of political culture in
the 50s and 60s considered as 'ethnocentric' and irrelevant to the study of newly independent
states be useful at present ? The study is also deficient in not giving equal importance to
international developments and milieu, it has also not given due focus on the prevailing
process of globalization which at present is major determinant fo! the growth and successful
working of the democratic processes and political culture in these states. However, despite
these shortcomings contribution of this study cannot be overlooked. One can certainly say
that this book is a valuable addition to the very scant literature available on the theme, it will
be of immense help for both academicians and policy makers and would work as good
source material on political developments In Central Asia.
The liidiaii Joiirna! of Political Science
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